Projects!

Hey Everyone...It's been a while since I wrote, and some projects are beginning to form, so I wanted to give you the update:

• With the help of the local municipality, we've started an artisans group that meets every Monday afternoon. We have about 25 women (with more wanting to join) and they are working in knitting, crochet, recycled products, and other types of textiles I don't know how to say in English :) I am really excited to see where this could go, and with the support of the municipality we are better off than on our own.
• Had a presentation on Wednesday with the Chamber of Commerce I'm working with here that was started by a past business volunteer. Getting people to participate can  be super challenging, so we weren't expecting much. But about 35 people came out, many being small business owners. Most said they were interested in joining us, so I hope the momentum continues and we are able to function as an active group (up until now we have just been looking to find more members).
• Had the first meeting of the Community Bank I'm starting with a women's group in a rural area about 1.5 hrs walk from where I live. After some mis-communication/uncertainty and a lot of patience while it got worked out, we got started and the women put their first shares into the bank. It must be weird/uncomfortable to them to "give their money away" - or at least feel like they are, but some of the ladies helped me reassure the rest of the group that the money is staying within their group so they can save and take loans out, and that the interest will be shared between the group. I hope to take the President to the training we have in January since we need to bring a "socio" or community partner...we'll see!
• Last night was my brother and his fiance's engagement party, and I had sent them a video of congrats and another video I made with my English class where I taught them how to say "Congratulations Jason and Kristen" ...they showed them on the big screen and they were a big hit! I got to talk to a bunch of family/friends at the party as well, which made me feel a part of it :)

Ok I'm gonna run...English class in less than an hour! But I have internet in my house now, so I will be more accessible...BIG praise! Miss you all and feel free to reach out!

Jackie

Last week was the week of fiestas, (4 birthday parties in 5 days!) so I have my work cut out for me…here we go:

·         “La Hora Peruana” is a common thing here that you hear from the Peruvians themselves…it means that things will start approximately one hour later than is said. For example, if the meeting/event starts at “3pm” it really won’t get started until at least 3:30 but more likely closer to 4. One of the only exceptions I have seen so far is with fiestas, or parties. People like their parties here, and they show up on time.

·         It always starts off kind-of stiff because they set up the room with chairs along the walls and everyone sits very quietly waiting for it to begin. In parties where there is alcohol involved, the mood shifts substantially from the beginning to the end of the night.

·         The style of the party depends on the age level, but some things are universal- there is one table that holds the food, candy, cake, etc and you don’t touch it until they bring it around and serve it to you. For kids’ parties, the tradition is popcorn, jello, lollipops, mazzamora (a thick liquidy sweet drink made from purple corn), soda, a piñata, and a cake… oh and more candy. They usually serve food, too. A typical Peruvian dish for parties is ahi de gallina, which is potatoes with a delicious yellow cream sauce (made with milk, crackers/bread and chilies blended together) and shredded chicken.

·         There is always really, really loud music and dancing.  Even at my host sister’s 6 yr-old birthday party, the music was up and the little kids were dancing in groups and pairs. I got to lead them in a little dance circle J

·         The dancing is most commonly to salsa, cumbia, or whino (I’m totally spelling that wrong). Whino is an ironic name because it actually sounds like they are whining in some of the songs. But it’s growing on me and they love it here in town. The dance to whino is really cool- it’s a partner dance (all the dances here are) and basically you jump and stomp your feet to the rhythm and occasionally rotate sides with your partner. It’s really fun!

·         They sing “happy birthday” in English first then Spanish. Not sure where the tradition started, but it always amuses me to hear the thick Peruvian accents sing “hhheppy bartday”

·         La Hora Loca (the crazy hour)- this happens at the end of the party- and it really is crazy! There is certain music that goes along with it, and there are balloons, streamers, spray confetti, and entertainers. Saw my first one at one of the parties…enough to make your head spin!

·         My host brother turned 14 and his party was really fun- his friends sung in their own style and shoved some cake in his face and we danced a lot. Nick, my sitemate, was there too, and they had us show them how “Americans dance.” We even did the “going fishing” move..ha!

I feel like there is more to say but I can’t possibly write it all. I’ll write again soon with some more cultural tidbits!

I can’t believe it’s October already! Craziness. In Maryland its football, fall and the start of the school year. But here things are a bit different, so with the advice of a good family friend (thanks Mr. Pat J), I’m going to share a bit of the intricacies of life and culture here…Take it with a grain of salt and remember there are strange things about American culture, too.

1.       You can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet- the pipes aren’t strong enough. Also, its BYOTP, or bring your own toilet paper, because you often won’t find it in the bathroom.

2.       Here the school year starts in March and ends in December, but right now the teachers are on strike so they will likely be going through January.

3.       They are all about their fiestas (parties/fairs). Since I’ve been here there have been 2 already, and I haven’t seen the biggest one yet. Parades, dancing, music, and culture. I like that they have traditional dances and celebrations, we don’t really get that in the US.

4.       It’s totally PC to call someone “gordita” (little fat person), “negro,” (black), “china” (if they look like Asian), or “gringa” (white person) if their skin is lighter. They are actually used as terms of endearment. They are very direct here about physical appearance and no one gets offended.

5.       In general, the cultural is more indirect with saying “no”- in fact they don’t often take no for an answer. You have to make up an excuse if, for example, you don’t want to have a drink or eat something with a group.

6.       It is thought that cold drinks are not good for you, but cold showers are okay.

7.       Here they take mototaxis to get around town- Three-wheeled bikes with motors more or less. They have a steel frame but the material of the body is more like canvas, and the sides are open. It’s quite funny the first time you see it. And they drive super fast. They only people that have cars here are the wealthy and they transportation companies.

8.       You can walk almost everywhere, which I really like. I can walk to work in 5-10 mins and find pretty much everything I need in the local stores. They have internet cafes too but the signal is really weak.

For my next post, I’ll brainstorm some more and share more details. It’s starting to seem normal here so it’s harder to point out the cultural differences, but I suppose that’s a good thing J

Until Next Time!