So, where do I begin?

They say the first 3 months are the hardest. Especially for those of us who live in the Sierra. Not only do we arrive in site right before the 3 major holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years (and for me, birthday), but then, just as you are getting over the home(sick) for the holidays feeling…it rains. It just rains…and rains….and RAINS!!! Until April. Dreary, muddy, and yucky for 3 months, which does not provoke much desire to leave the house. But if you do, you have to use big rubber golashes because the mud is so bad. It gets all over your shoes, your clothes, your house, everything. But it’s no use to wash your muddy clothes, because they don’t dry for 3 days, due to the amount of rain and mist in the air and the fact that we don’t have washers and dryers. And when they finally do dry, they smell funky and you have to rewash to get rid of the smell. I already found black mold on a shirt and some socks that were in my dirty clothes bag for a few days.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

Not to mention, you rarely feel like showering because you are already wet and it’s cold…and the shower is outside. And, to top off this tropical winter wonderland, our adobe house has no heating system. Luckily, when we take our regular trip into the big city, we can wash clothes there and take hot showers, indoors. So, while the rest of Peru is enjoying a beautiful, albeit hot, summer, we Serranos get to endure this character building, patience trying, see-how-long-it-takes-to-lower-your-expectations-of-cleanliness, grand life experience of winter on the east side of the mountains. I’m not complaining; just stating the facts. On the positive side, if we didn’t have the rainy season, we wouldn’t have the beautiful, tropical mountains and the delicious fruit the rest of the year.

CHRISTMAS

Let’s just put it this way. I will be in the US for Christmas next year.

Christmas here was just a real disappointment. I don’t believe it’s like this in all parts of Peru, but in my town people just don’t get into it. I think I heard 2 Christmas songs the whole month, the only decorations were the ones in the health center and no one says Feliz Navidad until midnight on the 24^th, and that’s it. The tradition is to eat dinner at midnight (which, thankfully, we ate at 9pm instead). We ate, watched a tv show that counted down the last 10 seconds to midnight (the way we do for New Years) then, sitting around the table, just looked at each other and said “Feliz Navidad”. Gave each other a hug, drank some hot chocolate and ate cake and that was it.

The problem was that by this time of night the kids and half the adults were exhausted and already sleeping. No childish excitement to feed off of, nor the whole family to share in wishing each other Merry Christmas. And no gifts. I didn’t expect any, but I was the only person who gave my family any gifts. They got excited about that and it was nice. I felt like Santa. I thought about that, wondering if part of the lack of excitement was due to poverty. No sense in looking forward to Christmas if you aren’t receiving anything, right? Christmas is about the birth of Christ, which they do put way more emphasis on here (after all, baby Jesus is born on midnight of the 24^th) which I think is good. But for one, they weren’t even all that excited about the birth of a Savior. Two, when several families here have satellite TV, radios, cell phones and we just remodeled our kitchen with a new sink, new stove, cement floor and beautiful red tiling on the counters…I think they can afford to give the kids a little something to open on Christmas.

So, I realized, it’s just tradition. What hurt the most was the next morning, the 25^th. I knew it would be different than back home, nothing exciting. But it really broke my heart when I woke up, walked into the kitchen, said “Feliz Navidad” to the family and they just stared at me blankly, like I was out of my mind, and finally responded with, “are you ready to eat breakfast?”. That was it. Christmas was done, over with and forgotten. Just like that.

I know we complain about the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the commercialism and greed. But there’s something in all that craziness occurring back home that sets it apart from the rest of the year. And there are moments in between, like when the clerk at Target wishes you a Merry Christmas as you leave and the Salvation Army guy is outside in his red hat ringing the bell; the screaming crowds of children waiting for their photo-op with Santa, the anticipation for the morning of the 25^th, the planning, the gift wrapping, gift giving, sharing time with family and friends, that makes up the Christmas season. Santa Claus, wreaths, lights, stockings, the songs, movies, decorations, the nutcracker, the Grinch, the Christmas plays and pageants, even the silly sweaters people wear with Rudolph or snowmen help make Christmas special. I just missed the Christmas spirit and the magic of it all. If you’re reading this back home, don’t take Christmas for granted.

FUN TIMES…NEW YEAR’S AND BIRTHDAY!

This turned out to be fun! Granted, no one actually said “Happy birthday” to me, except one little cousin, but my host family made a real effort to make a nice dinner, invited a lot of people over then we danced all night long. I also made a chocolate cake with frosting, which they had never had. I received several phone calls from family and friends, and several packages, too. I appreciated that so much, you have no idea! Thanks, everyone!,

Some family (on the right) and friends at the house for the party

THE SUGAR CANE PLANT and making TAFFY

So my town has this new plant for making cane syrup and sugar. It’s pretty amazing. They cut down the cane, bring it up on donkeys, feed it into a machine outside that takes off the husk and the juice goes down this tube into the building, passes through 4 bins to catch any particles, then it boils in 5 different bins to the right consistency to crystallize into sugar. We got to make taffy one night from it, with our bare hands! Unfortunately, it crystallized the next day and all we had were sugar lumps. Oh well!

THE CHAKRA

A chakra is a big garden here. Actually, I went with my older host sister and it turned out to be a jungle. Giant banana trees that she whacked down with one swipe of her machete! Impressive. Orange trees, Avocado, mango and papaya trees everywhere. It was so amazing to eat fresh fruit right from the plant!

I really admire the women here. They work really hard and are really strong. The sister in law came with us to the chakra and just hoped up a giant avocado tree, knocking all the fruit off with a 20 ft bamboo pole. My host sister scurried up to the top of an orange tree like a 5 year old boy. Keep in mind these women are 40 and 50 years old!!!! Then we hiked home, up and up, like pack mules with pounds of fruit on our backs. It was exhausting but totally worth it!

I didn’t bring my camera to the chakra, but got a good photo of my mean bug bites afterward!

The women I live with are also strong for other reasons. An elderly mother and her 2 middle aged daughters raising the 10 year old granddaughter and running their household with confidence and authority after the abandonment of the husbands, death of the grandfather, and loss of a baby. They make a living on their own by cooking for people in town, selling what they knit and sew, and the good fortune of the chakra. (Appearantly having trouble with the blog and the underlining I can't get rid of).

THE PIG (aka: the Chancha)

They slaughtered our pig the other day. Her name was Norma. It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard in my life. I already don’t eat pork here, because of the potential diseases, but after hearing her scream and whine the way she did, at 5:30 in the morning, I don’t know if I ever will be able to eat it again. Grocery stores and cellophane keep us immune to the process. If you’ve never heard your food scream…hearing it scream for fear of death, for the panic it feels upon realizing that it can’t escape, and for the pain it endures, begging for its life like a helpless child, you can easily go on eating it in blissful ignorance. But once you hear it squeal for its life, pleading to be spared, and whimpering for mercy in those last moments…it’s different. I sometimes still hear her screaming and whining, ringing in my ears. It happened right outside my room, in which I stayed, with my fingers plugging my ears, afraid to come out and see. When I finally did come out, she was still sort of alive, still breathing and whimpering as they drained the blood from her neck. Unbelievable.

From that one experience, I could easily make a case for vegetarianism for myself. But I can’t deny that I do eat other meat, and I like it. Not pork anymore, (and I did try! The other night in the city; pizza with ham on it…but I just couldn’t do it!) but other meat…so it makes me think about my choices and whether or not the other animals suffer like that. The main problem is that she suffered so long. For 30 minutes, crying, whimpering, and screaming. If you’re going to do it, if meat really is that necessary, at least make it as quick and painless as possible. So, at mealtimes, my family serves me eggs instead of pork.

WORK

I’ve done some talks (aka: charlas in Spanish) at the health center. This is me demonstrating how to wash your hands using a water bottle. This is great for the night time when we don’t have running water

These are my 8^th graders…my English class. I promised them a little reward if they had good behavior, so I baked a cake (of course!) It was Marble cake, yellow cake with chocolate swirled in. They loved it! Since it was right before Christmas they were already planning on doing a chocolatada, which is where they make a giant pot of hot chocolate (mostly turns out like watered-down milk with a couple chocolate bars melted in), so they brought this huge pot and cooked the hot chocolate over a fire.

I’ve also started doing house visits to the outlying neighborhoods (aka 1-2 hr walk away) to find out what their needs are. Mostly, they want the improved adobe stoves that have chimneys. The idea is to reduce respiratory infections. It is interesting, because it seems like a lot of people have knowledge about hygiene, eating vegetables, boiling drinking water, etc., they just don’t practice it. I am thinking that some propaganda on the radio or the community speakers would be a great way to remind people of these things and influence a change in habits.

TAKING A BREAK IN THE CITY

Luckily we went to the city, got some sun, good food, and got to see other volunteers. We saw the movie Sherlock Holmes, in ENGLISH!, which I definitely recommend! I bought some lovely perfume, for those in-between-showers days, AND, in the grocery store, I found anti-mold spray…! How great is that?? I also got some fantastic packages and cards in the mail! Thank you everyone!!! Going to the hot city is a reminder that in just a few months we will have summer, too!

It really is pretty, above the clouds!!!