While most of you were sitting around the family dinner table enjoying your turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie, Maren, Daphne, and I found ourselves in the middle of a giant anniversary party for the neighboring town of Choquehuanca (or Chumbahumba, as we like to call it). Here in Peru the anniversary of a town is no small thing. Costumes are rented, singers are hired, games are brought in, and much beer is consumed. So our Thanksgiving was passed getting bombarded by marching bands playing huaynos (if you don't know what these are go to youtube or Maren's blog) and lots of ladies and some men swirling about in sparkling costumes. Luckily we were able to find a tent that held many foosball tables, so Maren and I challenged Fortunato and Daphne to ten+ rounds of awesome foosball on a table that barely made it from the 60s.
Our real Thanksgiving, though, was held on Saturday. We spent all day preparing apple crisp, a squash pie thing (DElicious, kudos to Daph), loads of mashed potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, and oven roasted chicken. We were unable to get a hold of a turkey because apparently they don't sell turkey anywhere until Christmas time. In any case, it was a smashing success with Everyone liking the food (a new phenomenon concerning the food we cook for them..though they're always very generous) and our three families getting together and having a great time chatting and getting stuffed. We were told many times (mostly by Veronica) that they would never forget this meal...and I don't think I will either. It was a wondeful moment where I think we all felt a real inclusion in this community.
I hope you all had a wondeful day as well!
Los Andes
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Toma! Baila!
Daphne, Maren, and I have just returned from a great vacation-trip to Cusco where I had no time to write an extensive blog. I thought, naively, that I would have loads of time to catch all of you up on the goings on of Chijnaya, seeing as we had free, more or less unlimited, internet access. I was quite wrong. We were too busy eating yummy things like Indian food (at the only Indian restaurant in Peru!), hamburgers (DELICIOUS), and bagels.
In any case, I am left with not as much time as I would like, so I will have to resort to telling you about Eli(zabeth)'s baptism/first communion/confirmation party. Normally I wouldn't write about drinking beer on a blog, but this party was just too great not to write about!
I woke up the morning after the party with, thankfully, no ill effects. This probably had something to do with the three pieces of bread I had before sleeping, and my middle of the night awakening, thanks to the resident mice. I made my way to the kitchen building (very small), where I found Paula cooking/making Quaker (oats). I asked her if she had heard Daphne playing her fiddle. She responded "Oh yes, I even tried it! Your friend plays beautifully. Me, not so much." Everything then came flooding back to me.
The party started off with a large lunch of delicious chicken and rice soup, followed by asado de alpaca on top of corn, salad, and potatoes. Having not finished all of this pile of food (despite the tastiness of the asado), Maren, Daphne, and I vacated the premises to teach English to the rapscallions at the school. Class finished quite early that day due to the almost combustible energy of the (almost exclusively) boys, so at five we left and went to try to chat with Veronica and Fortunato about our upcoming trip to Cusco. Fortun wasn't there, so we helped Veronica lug her pig's food over to the other family compound where her uncle lives. After watching the pig gobble down its food we returned to the school where we continued our pointless wait for adults to show up for class (no one showed up the entire week).
We finally returned at 6:00 to Eli's family compound, despite the tempting calls from the mass of children playing CTB *(for more on the goings on of the neighborhood children's obsession with Capture the Flag/Ball see below). Upon entering, I saw that I had guessed right--everyone was well on their way to being drunk, or "festive" (as Megan would say). We were herded in, sat down, given beer, and told that there was no electricity so we (lamentably) couldn't dance. Everyone looked so bummed about this that I suggested that we sing. Of course this "we" turned out to be us gringas. So Maren and I sung a couple of Christmas carols, while Daphne fetched her fiddle (after much prodding and encouragement from all of us). When she came back, we "performed" 'Orphan Girl', 'Wagon Wheel', and Daphne played a reel.
By that point the lights had come back on and Eli's padrino decided it was time to educate us about huayno. This lovely traditional Peruvian music, that dates back to the Incas, then began to blast from the speakers and the padrino (godfather) began telling us about more Peruvian traditions that are beginning to disappear; coincidentally one involves visiting your padrino and celebrating with him. We were soon drawn to our feet to learn how to dance huayno (basically involves moving your feet to the rhythm...quite difficult). This, of course, was quite the spectacle, and everyone got a good laugh, though I like to think I carried myself just fine. I danced with the rhythm, spun and was spun, acted silly, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
At various points, Maren and I demonstrated swing dancing, "salsa" (with Daphne cutting in and showing us how to really do it), and the "waltz." I also danced with Chico (the 1.3 year old)--quite a highlight--who was absolutely thrilled with all the music. Daphne brought out her fiddle again and Maren and I again demonstrated "traditional dance" from the U.S./Ireland/our heads. We later learned that no one else wanted to dance because they couldn't "jump like us" (our interpretation of Irish step dancing). Paula told Cesar that he would need to "bajar de peso" if he ever wanted to dance like us.
After our dancing demonstrations Daphne's fiddle, inexplicably, began to be passed around the room. Nearly everyone tried it, much to the delight of everyone else. Daphne said that Paula looked like a natural, but compared to the rest of us (whose skill could be marked by the piercing squeaks of the fiddle and the laughter of everyone else), I'm not sure this is actually saying much.
Finally, after more drinking, a little more dancing,, and a good deal more conversation about I don't even know what, we went our separate ways. Apparently, though, Cesar and Paula went back after taking care of us kids...I guess Eli's father was insistent about needing to chat more with Cesar. Though I can't imagine either was comprehensible to the other.
Until next time, Cuidanse bien!
...
*On the morning of the 14th I woke up at 4:30AM to shouts of "Richard!" "Beto!" Apparently the kids actually got up at that horrid hour to play CTB!!! They were totally thrilled about it. What I love about CTB (and sports in general) is how it really brings out personalities. For example, there is Beto, who takes control in a fair manner and has a very mature overview of how things should be going (even though he has no faith in the skills of the girls); there is Livio who is dangerously fast, constantly has a cheeky smirk, and is totally concentrated on getting to the ball...though he tries to hard to be tricky; Livio's sister, Delia, also tries to be sneaky, and is very playful, but is most often found sprawled on the ground, looking up at the stars and singing to herself; Richard also tries a bit to hard to be sneaky--he is always strategizing (sometimes they work, usually they don't) and is always worried about justice; Jhoan (Johan), is the brother of Leidi (who is very fast and constantly takes advantage of being underestimated) is a tough little guy who is just out there to have fun, but sometimes gets his feelings hurt when the big boys tell him he isn't any good at running; then there is Umberto...he doesn't beat around the bush, he simply takes all. But he is actually sneaky about it. He doesn't try to hard to be sneaky, he just is, and he usually wins because of it. So yeah, CTB is pretty awesome.
In any case, I am left with not as much time as I would like, so I will have to resort to telling you about Eli(zabeth)'s baptism/first communion/confirmation party. Normally I wouldn't write about drinking beer on a blog, but this party was just too great not to write about!
I woke up the morning after the party with, thankfully, no ill effects. This probably had something to do with the three pieces of bread I had before sleeping, and my middle of the night awakening, thanks to the resident mice. I made my way to the kitchen building (very small), where I found Paula cooking/making Quaker (oats). I asked her if she had heard Daphne playing her fiddle. She responded "Oh yes, I even tried it! Your friend plays beautifully. Me, not so much." Everything then came flooding back to me.
The party started off with a large lunch of delicious chicken and rice soup, followed by asado de alpaca on top of corn, salad, and potatoes. Having not finished all of this pile of food (despite the tastiness of the asado), Maren, Daphne, and I vacated the premises to teach English to the rapscallions at the school. Class finished quite early that day due to the almost combustible energy of the (almost exclusively) boys, so at five we left and went to try to chat with Veronica and Fortunato about our upcoming trip to Cusco. Fortun wasn't there, so we helped Veronica lug her pig's food over to the other family compound where her uncle lives. After watching the pig gobble down its food we returned to the school where we continued our pointless wait for adults to show up for class (no one showed up the entire week).
We finally returned at 6:00 to Eli's family compound, despite the tempting calls from the mass of children playing CTB *(for more on the goings on of the neighborhood children's obsession with Capture the Flag/Ball see below). Upon entering, I saw that I had guessed right--everyone was well on their way to being drunk, or "festive" (as Megan would say). We were herded in, sat down, given beer, and told that there was no electricity so we (lamentably) couldn't dance. Everyone looked so bummed about this that I suggested that we sing. Of course this "we" turned out to be us gringas. So Maren and I sung a couple of Christmas carols, while Daphne fetched her fiddle (after much prodding and encouragement from all of us). When she came back, we "performed" 'Orphan Girl', 'Wagon Wheel', and Daphne played a reel.
By that point the lights had come back on and Eli's padrino decided it was time to educate us about huayno. This lovely traditional Peruvian music, that dates back to the Incas, then began to blast from the speakers and the padrino (godfather) began telling us about more Peruvian traditions that are beginning to disappear; coincidentally one involves visiting your padrino and celebrating with him. We were soon drawn to our feet to learn how to dance huayno (basically involves moving your feet to the rhythm...quite difficult). This, of course, was quite the spectacle, and everyone got a good laugh, though I like to think I carried myself just fine. I danced with the rhythm, spun and was spun, acted silly, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
At various points, Maren and I demonstrated swing dancing, "salsa" (with Daphne cutting in and showing us how to really do it), and the "waltz." I also danced with Chico (the 1.3 year old)--quite a highlight--who was absolutely thrilled with all the music. Daphne brought out her fiddle again and Maren and I again demonstrated "traditional dance" from the U.S./Ireland/our heads. We later learned that no one else wanted to dance because they couldn't "jump like us" (our interpretation of Irish step dancing). Paula told Cesar that he would need to "bajar de peso" if he ever wanted to dance like us.
After our dancing demonstrations Daphne's fiddle, inexplicably, began to be passed around the room. Nearly everyone tried it, much to the delight of everyone else. Daphne said that Paula looked like a natural, but compared to the rest of us (whose skill could be marked by the piercing squeaks of the fiddle and the laughter of everyone else), I'm not sure this is actually saying much.
Finally, after more drinking, a little more dancing,, and a good deal more conversation about I don't even know what, we went our separate ways. Apparently, though, Cesar and Paula went back after taking care of us kids...I guess Eli's father was insistent about needing to chat more with Cesar. Though I can't imagine either was comprehensible to the other.
Until next time, Cuidanse bien!
...
*On the morning of the 14th I woke up at 4:30AM to shouts of "Richard!" "Beto!" Apparently the kids actually got up at that horrid hour to play CTB!!! They were totally thrilled about it. What I love about CTB (and sports in general) is how it really brings out personalities. For example, there is Beto, who takes control in a fair manner and has a very mature overview of how things should be going (even though he has no faith in the skills of the girls); there is Livio who is dangerously fast, constantly has a cheeky smirk, and is totally concentrated on getting to the ball...though he tries to hard to be tricky; Livio's sister, Delia, also tries to be sneaky, and is very playful, but is most often found sprawled on the ground, looking up at the stars and singing to herself; Richard also tries a bit to hard to be sneaky--he is always strategizing (sometimes they work, usually they don't) and is always worried about justice; Jhoan (Johan), is the brother of Leidi (who is very fast and constantly takes advantage of being underestimated) is a tough little guy who is just out there to have fun, but sometimes gets his feelings hurt when the big boys tell him he isn't any good at running; then there is Umberto...he doesn't beat around the bush, he simply takes all. But he is actually sneaky about it. He doesn't try to hard to be sneaky, he just is, and he usually wins because of it. So yeah, CTB is pretty awesome.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
¿Vamos a jugar?
So it's official. Capture the Flag has become the new obsession of the neighborhood kids.
But this needs a bit of explanation. Basically, it all began on the night before Halloween. Daphne, Maren, and I threw a slamming Halloween party in Daphne's room that day (it was a friday, so we had the party instead of class). All of the kids who came (mostly boys) were super pumped about bobbing for apples--from which they emerged like half drowned wet rats (according to Daphne)--thrilled about making masks, and off the wall about receiving candy. An overall great success. In fact, we had prepared for this party by holding a monster drawing session in class the day before; an activity that even drew some resident 15 yr old "punks". The results are fantastic. But anyway, as I was leaving the party (it was around 6:00 at this point) I was approached by five kids who seemed to have it in their heads that we were going trick-or-treating for "La Noche de la Bruja"...well they were mistaken, but they begged so desperately to do Something, that I just had to give in to them...But what were we to do? I asked myself. We'd already had a party, so what really was there left? Well, I responded to myself...there's always Ghosts in the Graveyard (which we had successfully played at the party). So I told the kids to meet back up the next night, the Real Halloween night, and we would play a scary game in the dark. Well, the next night came and at first it seemed that no one was going to show up (being that many were making T'anta Wawa --which Maren has written eloquently about--and the fact that the lights had all gone, inexplicably, out), but Beto, my host brother, was insistent that we get a game together. So he tore off on his bike to round kids up. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by 10 very eneretic children. It was at this point that the street lights came back on and I realized that Ghosts in the Graveyard, as great a game as it is, may not quench the thirst for an awesome game. It was at this point that I remembered Manhunt. Brilliant! I thought, and I lead them all to a section of street right before the chakras (fields of cultivation) begin where we could play in psuedo darkness (satisfying the scary requirement). As I began to explain it, though, I slowly realized that I didn't actually fully understand the point of Manhunt, so I quickly changed tack and started explaining Capture the Flag. Well it instantly took off and I had barely finished explaining the bit about jails when they started yelling about splitting into two teams and the game started. That first night everyone was still shaky on the rules, but we ended up playing for a good hour and a half-two hours (much to the chagrin, said Daphne, of her family, whose compound was right near by) despite the massive amounts of cheating going on. The next day about seven kids came up to me expressing an urgent desire to play again that night, so we did. The rules, such as having to walk back to your side after being liberated from the jail instead of dashing straight for the flag, began to get themselves sorted out, and everyone had a great time. One kid even got so into it he decided that hiding in the trash bin was a great tactic. He stayed in there a surprisingly long time, considering. On Monday, instead of playing at night, we played right after class on the soccer field--Maren had introduced the variation where you play with a ball that you can throw, so it worked well on the field. That was going great until the massive thunderheads started rolling in. The kids, of course, ignored them completely, but when a rather startling bolt of lightning zoomed down above a nearby cerro a 13 year old and I decided it was time to high-tail it back home. So, moral of the story is that Capture the Flag/Ball has successfully infected a heck of a lot of Chijnaya kids, for better or for worse.
...
Sorry for that flood of probably unecessary detail. Other things:
- The ovens that are used to make T'anta Wawa (baby bread) are only fired up once a year, so César had the brilliant idea of making use of the horno's heat for Pizza!!! So Maren, Daphne, César, and I rustled up some ingredients for pizza (we were sadly lacking in tomatoes), and threw together four Delicious "adobe-oven" pizzas! That was definitely a highlight of the week.
- Ralph's birthday celebration was quite a to-do. There was lots of dancing (organized), lots of speeches, and Lots of cake. Is it possible to have a sugar hangover? Well I think I had one, whatever the case. Some people of Chijnaya (including Paula and César) performed a dance based around the planting of the potato. It was really interesting to watch. All the men carried tools for digging holes and the women pretended to plant potatoes. There was one man running around with a whip who was the "hacendado"--representative of the time (in much to recent memory) when the campesinos had to work for a large plantation where they were basically enslaved--similar to serfdom. At one point everyone stopped dancing and rushed to the center...apparently for lunch. Then a woman started skipping around stuffing people's mouths with coca leaves...for energy? Once the "field work" was over, everyone rushed to various locations to drink chicha (corn beer)--a reward for a hard day's work. It was quite a sight to behold. Everyone was really into it, which was great.
- Maren is probably writing about this, but one day she, Daphne, and I were tossing the frisbee outside of Daphne's room. We decided that day that it would be fun to blast Totally Hits 2001 out of the window. Well, apparently some kids thought it was pretty cool too, so they joined us. For a little while they were watching us and throwing the disc a bit too, but then O-Town's "All or Nothing" started blasting. Apparently this song was just too good not to dance to, so two of the girls (Leidi and Delia) began doing some interpretaional dancing, inspired by ballet. There. In the middle of the street with the cows looking on. The twirling continued on for Usher's "U Remind Me." It was hard to control ourselves. Leidi asked for some music in Spanish, so I put on "Ganas de Llorar," which was equally well received. Totales son esos chicos.
Well, I think I've probably overloaded this particular blog, so ¡Hasta Pronto!
But this needs a bit of explanation. Basically, it all began on the night before Halloween. Daphne, Maren, and I threw a slamming Halloween party in Daphne's room that day (it was a friday, so we had the party instead of class). All of the kids who came (mostly boys) were super pumped about bobbing for apples--from which they emerged like half drowned wet rats (according to Daphne)--thrilled about making masks, and off the wall about receiving candy. An overall great success. In fact, we had prepared for this party by holding a monster drawing session in class the day before; an activity that even drew some resident 15 yr old "punks". The results are fantastic. But anyway, as I was leaving the party (it was around 6:00 at this point) I was approached by five kids who seemed to have it in their heads that we were going trick-or-treating for "La Noche de la Bruja"...well they were mistaken, but they begged so desperately to do Something, that I just had to give in to them...But what were we to do? I asked myself. We'd already had a party, so what really was there left? Well, I responded to myself...there's always Ghosts in the Graveyard (which we had successfully played at the party). So I told the kids to meet back up the next night, the Real Halloween night, and we would play a scary game in the dark. Well, the next night came and at first it seemed that no one was going to show up (being that many were making T'anta Wawa --which Maren has written eloquently about--and the fact that the lights had all gone, inexplicably, out), but Beto, my host brother, was insistent that we get a game together. So he tore off on his bike to round kids up. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by 10 very eneretic children. It was at this point that the street lights came back on and I realized that Ghosts in the Graveyard, as great a game as it is, may not quench the thirst for an awesome game. It was at this point that I remembered Manhunt. Brilliant! I thought, and I lead them all to a section of street right before the chakras (fields of cultivation) begin where we could play in psuedo darkness (satisfying the scary requirement). As I began to explain it, though, I slowly realized that I didn't actually fully understand the point of Manhunt, so I quickly changed tack and started explaining Capture the Flag. Well it instantly took off and I had barely finished explaining the bit about jails when they started yelling about splitting into two teams and the game started. That first night everyone was still shaky on the rules, but we ended up playing for a good hour and a half-two hours (much to the chagrin, said Daphne, of her family, whose compound was right near by) despite the massive amounts of cheating going on. The next day about seven kids came up to me expressing an urgent desire to play again that night, so we did. The rules, such as having to walk back to your side after being liberated from the jail instead of dashing straight for the flag, began to get themselves sorted out, and everyone had a great time. One kid even got so into it he decided that hiding in the trash bin was a great tactic. He stayed in there a surprisingly long time, considering. On Monday, instead of playing at night, we played right after class on the soccer field--Maren had introduced the variation where you play with a ball that you can throw, so it worked well on the field. That was going great until the massive thunderheads started rolling in. The kids, of course, ignored them completely, but when a rather startling bolt of lightning zoomed down above a nearby cerro a 13 year old and I decided it was time to high-tail it back home. So, moral of the story is that Capture the Flag/Ball has successfully infected a heck of a lot of Chijnaya kids, for better or for worse.
...
Sorry for that flood of probably unecessary detail. Other things:
- The ovens that are used to make T'anta Wawa (baby bread) are only fired up once a year, so César had the brilliant idea of making use of the horno's heat for Pizza!!! So Maren, Daphne, César, and I rustled up some ingredients for pizza (we were sadly lacking in tomatoes), and threw together four Delicious "adobe-oven" pizzas! That was definitely a highlight of the week.
- Ralph's birthday celebration was quite a to-do. There was lots of dancing (organized), lots of speeches, and Lots of cake. Is it possible to have a sugar hangover? Well I think I had one, whatever the case. Some people of Chijnaya (including Paula and César) performed a dance based around the planting of the potato. It was really interesting to watch. All the men carried tools for digging holes and the women pretended to plant potatoes. There was one man running around with a whip who was the "hacendado"--representative of the time (in much to recent memory) when the campesinos had to work for a large plantation where they were basically enslaved--similar to serfdom. At one point everyone stopped dancing and rushed to the center...apparently for lunch. Then a woman started skipping around stuffing people's mouths with coca leaves...for energy? Once the "field work" was over, everyone rushed to various locations to drink chicha (corn beer)--a reward for a hard day's work. It was quite a sight to behold. Everyone was really into it, which was great.
- Maren is probably writing about this, but one day she, Daphne, and I were tossing the frisbee outside of Daphne's room. We decided that day that it would be fun to blast Totally Hits 2001 out of the window. Well, apparently some kids thought it was pretty cool too, so they joined us. For a little while they were watching us and throwing the disc a bit too, but then O-Town's "All or Nothing" started blasting. Apparently this song was just too good not to dance to, so two of the girls (Leidi and Delia) began doing some interpretaional dancing, inspired by ballet. There. In the middle of the street with the cows looking on. The twirling continued on for Usher's "U Remind Me." It was hard to control ourselves. Leidi asked for some music in Spanish, so I put on "Ganas de Llorar," which was equally well received. Totales son esos chicos.
Well, I think I've probably overloaded this particular blog, so ¡Hasta Pronto!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
T'anta Wawa, Halloween, and Capture the Flag
Unfortunately I don't have enough time to write a full blog today to inform you all of the lovely goings on in Chijnaya around Todos los Santos. I PROMISE I will rectify this situation next week. There are lots of great moments to talk about.
In the meanwhile, check out my friend Maren's blog. There really isn't that much overlap, and she's a good writer. I've added a link on the right-hand side of this blog.
In the meanwhile, check out my friend Maren's blog. There really isn't that much overlap, and she's a good writer. I've added a link on the right-hand side of this blog.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
¿Arreamos la vaca?
Things are beginning to settle down to a routine based around our daily English class in Pucará and what has basically become an afterschool program in English in Chijnaya. Needless to say, there is ample time for funny moments, family adventures, "peaceful" games of Rummy in Daphne's room, and preparation for what promises to be a smashing Halloween party. Oh yeah, and the professor who started the Chijnaya Foundation, Ralph Bolton, is coming TODAY for his birthday. This, I can assure you, will be no ordinary birthday. There will be lots of Peruvian line dancing (in fact, other communities are coming for a dancing competition), newly cut trees lining the road, elephant size portions of meat, a buffet-style lunch (which César and Paula were puzzled about), a CAKE (!!!) with Happy Birthday written in English, and probably copious amounts of drinking.
But before I get there (as it hasn't happened yet) I have to backtrack a couple of weeks to where I left you all off; back to a couple of fin de semanas atrás when Beto, Richard, and I went to arrear the vaca (and ovejas) lejos. This entails stocking up on yummies like hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, tuna (which, thank heaven, we didn't end up eating), fresh cheese, and gaseosa (soda). Then all this food, plus rain gear, is put on top of a bicycle, and we set off down to where the cows are being held (a temporary situation due to adobe blocks in their normal yard), set them loose, and herd them, along with the traviosa sheep, along a wide dirt road pointing to the mountains to the west. I was told that other family members from Paula's side would also be joining us, but for about half of the "trek" it was just Beto, Richard, and I. We passed the time telling stories...well I told stories. Interestingly, I was the one who ended up telling Peruvian stories about condenados (the damned), though I also treated them to a classic American scary story about a boy and his (dead) dog. Oh! and I also told them the story about Ferdinand the bull. It seemed appropriate as we were surrounded by all those cows.
About halfway up to the pasture we stopped to let the cows have water and so that a couple of cousins that we saw in the distance could catch up. A boy who is simply called Chico came riding up on his bicycle and another small one came bustle up beside him. This small one gave me a huge smile and immediately took hold of my hand and began dragging me around. At first I was baffled by this forwardness because I was under the impression that this small one was Lucmila's (Paula's youngest sister) youngest child, Chano, a boy. I was struck again by how much "he" looked like a girl (long hair and feminine features that I can't quite put my finger on), but I tried to put these thoughts behind me. "He" had not yet said one word, so when a full sentence about the vaca came busting out of this small person I instantly realized my mistake. This was Jimena! (the second to youngest traviosa chica) Not Chano at all! She had just gotten a haircut apparently. But still, how I mixed up a five year old with a two year old is still a mystery.
Well, we continued on up, Jimena still holding my hand, and with Elida/Chavi (the second oldest) and Lucmila who had caught up with us. The landscape is beautiful. Dry, grassy hills that continued to soar higher, with bare, rocky and lichened cliffs, and littered with small scrub trees. At one point I watched as an eagle or a hawk (I still don't know my Peruvian birds very well) approached from the mountains on the other side of the valley and fly right towards, then into, the rock face directly in front of where we had stopped. Then, barely a second later, it reemerged with a second eagle/hawk, of a lighter shade, and they both took off to another site of the rock facce with a songbird hot on their tails. Mamaranti (Paula's mom, who had just arrived with Magaly, Lucmila's oldest) said something about hunting, but I couldn't quite figure it out.
After sharing some gaseosa with the entire family, we kids took off to explore the rock face (from which the eagle/hawks had flown) and the rest of the hill above it. We climbed up through a beautiful passage walled by cliffs and consisting of nearly impenetrable shrubbery in places (it reminded me of the steep trail at Tumbledown). Magaly, Elida, and I straggled behind helping Jimena, while the boys raced ahead. We climbed about on boulders, slung small rocks with slingshots, took pictures of ourselves and tiny baby birds Beto found on the top in a tree, and poked around a bit. After about an hour we went down for lunch, which turned out to be quite enjoyable.
Having herded the cows and sheep down to the stream so they could drink and munch on the more substantial green grass, we set ourselves down in a spot with a good vantage point from where most of the animals could be seen. A blanket was laid out heaping with habas (a type of bean...lima??), potatoes, fried wheat munchables, eggs, and the cheese (from the local quesaría!). After lunch, the kids played/wrestled, Mamaranti shot a plastic dart revolver at her grandsons and challenged them to a boxing match, and I went running back up the mountain to chase down some roaming sheep. Beto and Chico followed me with their slingshots to persuade the sheep in the other direction. Then thunderheads began to move in.
The whole party finally got a move on, but a few steps into the descent rain started to fall. Soon the rain was accompanied by hail and a strong wind. Thunder was sounding in the distance and I could see flashes of lightening over some not-so-distant peaks. Jimena took hold of my hand again, but I told her she could ride on my back so we could go faster. We had a lovely time singing under the poncho Beto insisted I wear over the both of us (Jimena and I). When we had reached the bottom of the hill and the long, flat section back to town, Jimena decided she'd had enough of piggy-back riding. I let her down and took the bicycle from Richard, who was looking tired. This, I quickly realized, was a bad idea altogether (pushing a metal bike). Thunder clapped almost directly above us after a quite startling bolt of lightening. It didn't seem like I had too many options, so I put the straggling Jimena on the bike (probably not such a great idea...) took shelter among the cows, and booked it back to Chijnaya. Quite a heart-thumping end to a quite peaceful day.
Back at Chijnaya the power was out (as apparently always happens in thunderstorms), so I stripped off my wet clothes, put on long underwear, and got into my sleeping bag. Later, after dinner, Beto, Richard and I played with a rapidly melting beeswax candle I brought and told a couple more stories before heading to bed.
...
Well, I didn't mean to go on for quite so long, but it was a nice day.
Classes have been going fine, if a little frustrating at the colegio. These high schoolers don't seem to be taking us seriously--not doing their homework, not studying for quizzes, etc. But I'm pretty sure bad quiz grades will change their minds.
On the afterschool English class front things are going quite well. Maren's been reading Where The Wild Things Are, which is quite a hit, and we've been drawing monsters in preparation for Halloween. The collective monster drawn yesterday was exceedingly scary...double chin, three eyes, ghost-like body, four gruesome hands, wings, and wacky hair. The kids loved it.
Well, I have no doubt that I'll have a lot more to write after Ralph's birthday party and Halloween, so I'll leave you here.
¡Hasta pronto!
But before I get there (as it hasn't happened yet) I have to backtrack a couple of weeks to where I left you all off; back to a couple of fin de semanas atrás when Beto, Richard, and I went to arrear the vaca (and ovejas) lejos. This entails stocking up on yummies like hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, tuna (which, thank heaven, we didn't end up eating), fresh cheese, and gaseosa (soda). Then all this food, plus rain gear, is put on top of a bicycle, and we set off down to where the cows are being held (a temporary situation due to adobe blocks in their normal yard), set them loose, and herd them, along with the traviosa sheep, along a wide dirt road pointing to the mountains to the west. I was told that other family members from Paula's side would also be joining us, but for about half of the "trek" it was just Beto, Richard, and I. We passed the time telling stories...well I told stories. Interestingly, I was the one who ended up telling Peruvian stories about condenados (the damned), though I also treated them to a classic American scary story about a boy and his (dead) dog. Oh! and I also told them the story about Ferdinand the bull. It seemed appropriate as we were surrounded by all those cows.
About halfway up to the pasture we stopped to let the cows have water and so that a couple of cousins that we saw in the distance could catch up. A boy who is simply called Chico came riding up on his bicycle and another small one came bustle up beside him. This small one gave me a huge smile and immediately took hold of my hand and began dragging me around. At first I was baffled by this forwardness because I was under the impression that this small one was Lucmila's (Paula's youngest sister) youngest child, Chano, a boy. I was struck again by how much "he" looked like a girl (long hair and feminine features that I can't quite put my finger on), but I tried to put these thoughts behind me. "He" had not yet said one word, so when a full sentence about the vaca came busting out of this small person I instantly realized my mistake. This was Jimena! (the second to youngest traviosa chica) Not Chano at all! She had just gotten a haircut apparently. But still, how I mixed up a five year old with a two year old is still a mystery.
Well, we continued on up, Jimena still holding my hand, and with Elida/Chavi (the second oldest) and Lucmila who had caught up with us. The landscape is beautiful. Dry, grassy hills that continued to soar higher, with bare, rocky and lichened cliffs, and littered with small scrub trees. At one point I watched as an eagle or a hawk (I still don't know my Peruvian birds very well) approached from the mountains on the other side of the valley and fly right towards, then into, the rock face directly in front of where we had stopped. Then, barely a second later, it reemerged with a second eagle/hawk, of a lighter shade, and they both took off to another site of the rock facce with a songbird hot on their tails. Mamaranti (Paula's mom, who had just arrived with Magaly, Lucmila's oldest) said something about hunting, but I couldn't quite figure it out.
After sharing some gaseosa with the entire family, we kids took off to explore the rock face (from which the eagle/hawks had flown) and the rest of the hill above it. We climbed up through a beautiful passage walled by cliffs and consisting of nearly impenetrable shrubbery in places (it reminded me of the steep trail at Tumbledown). Magaly, Elida, and I straggled behind helping Jimena, while the boys raced ahead. We climbed about on boulders, slung small rocks with slingshots, took pictures of ourselves and tiny baby birds Beto found on the top in a tree, and poked around a bit. After about an hour we went down for lunch, which turned out to be quite enjoyable.
Having herded the cows and sheep down to the stream so they could drink and munch on the more substantial green grass, we set ourselves down in a spot with a good vantage point from where most of the animals could be seen. A blanket was laid out heaping with habas (a type of bean...lima??), potatoes, fried wheat munchables, eggs, and the cheese (from the local quesaría!). After lunch, the kids played/wrestled, Mamaranti shot a plastic dart revolver at her grandsons and challenged them to a boxing match, and I went running back up the mountain to chase down some roaming sheep. Beto and Chico followed me with their slingshots to persuade the sheep in the other direction. Then thunderheads began to move in.
The whole party finally got a move on, but a few steps into the descent rain started to fall. Soon the rain was accompanied by hail and a strong wind. Thunder was sounding in the distance and I could see flashes of lightening over some not-so-distant peaks. Jimena took hold of my hand again, but I told her she could ride on my back so we could go faster. We had a lovely time singing under the poncho Beto insisted I wear over the both of us (Jimena and I). When we had reached the bottom of the hill and the long, flat section back to town, Jimena decided she'd had enough of piggy-back riding. I let her down and took the bicycle from Richard, who was looking tired. This, I quickly realized, was a bad idea altogether (pushing a metal bike). Thunder clapped almost directly above us after a quite startling bolt of lightening. It didn't seem like I had too many options, so I put the straggling Jimena on the bike (probably not such a great idea...) took shelter among the cows, and booked it back to Chijnaya. Quite a heart-thumping end to a quite peaceful day.
Back at Chijnaya the power was out (as apparently always happens in thunderstorms), so I stripped off my wet clothes, put on long underwear, and got into my sleeping bag. Later, after dinner, Beto, Richard and I played with a rapidly melting beeswax candle I brought and told a couple more stories before heading to bed.
...
Well, I didn't mean to go on for quite so long, but it was a nice day.
Classes have been going fine, if a little frustrating at the colegio. These high schoolers don't seem to be taking us seriously--not doing their homework, not studying for quizzes, etc. But I'm pretty sure bad quiz grades will change their minds.
On the afterschool English class front things are going quite well. Maren's been reading Where The Wild Things Are, which is quite a hit, and we've been drawing monsters in preparation for Halloween. The collective monster drawn yesterday was exceedingly scary...double chin, three eyes, ghost-like body, four gruesome hands, wings, and wacky hair. The kids loved it.
Well, I have no doubt that I'll have a lot more to write after Ralph's birthday party and Halloween, so I'll leave you here.
¡Hasta pronto!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
It's funny that in my last post I mentioned my lack of appetite...It has suddenly returned with the force of a charging three-wheeled Juliaca cart (taxi/motorcycle thingys). I have taken to eating copious amounts of bread at breakfast and dinner (I think this morning I had six...). Anyway, I suppose that's good news.
The past week and a half have been quite eventful. We have successfully started classes at the colegio (high school), the local kids of Chijnaya can't seem to get enough of English class, I'm still playing a lot of cards (though not as much), and the rain is slowly showing its face among rather startling claps of thunder and lightening bolts.
The classes at the high school are going well, though all of the classes that we have are at a very very basic level of English, despite what their 'textbooks' indicate. We were told by the director of the high school that our job was to enhance the curriculum laid out in their texts, but these are about five or six levels above their actual abilities. This means that we are starting from scratch and get to be really creative when it comes to how we're going to structure the class. I think it's going to be quite fun, though challenging (I'm already thinking about possibilities for class at least five times a day).
The classes themselves have around 25 kids in them, from the ages of 15-20. There are many kids that come in from Chijnaya to the colegio, so we're getting to know a broader spectrum of the community as well as teaching English, which is great. So far the biggest challenge is getting the kids to talk, though they say that becoming better at pronunciation is one of their priorities. We've been playing games like 2 truths and a lie, and chalkboard races to get them involved. Now the question is maintaining that involvement throughout the next few weeks.
In our English classes in Chijnaya, involvement is the opposite of a problem. Yesterday, in the middle of a rain/thunder/lightening storm Maren discovered seven kids waiting outside her bedroom door for class! We had told them the day before that there would be no class because the school was not open, but this did not seem to bother them in the least. Of course we couldn't ignore such enthusiasm so we had a game day class, playing 'blind cow' (which everyone got a kick out of because they got to wear cow masks), Simon Says, and Memory (which they got Super into). So, despite some middle school 'delinquents' (mal criados) who were a bit disruptive last week, I'd say our classes have been quite the success!
There isn't too much news on the homefront besides the insane amount of work everyone is putting into building stables. Each family has been given money from the local government to build stables, so it seems like every where we look people are making adobe, stacking adobe, and resting against newly stacked adobe. I once offered to help and Paula's father said 'Sure, you can either take my big shovel or Richard's little one.' I replied that I should probably take his (to give him a rest) seeing as I'm rather tall. Then, as I bent down to take off my shoes so they wouldn't get caked with mud, Paula's mother (Margarita/mamaranti) called out 'No, you can't do that. It's man's work!' Paula's father had been joking with me! Anyway, I was a bit distressed, but Mamaranti (grandmother in Quechua..I think) came to the rescue again and told me I could help her cut the hay for the adobe. She is one wonderful woman.
I had some more fun last night with Paula's extended family who were celebrating the purchase of her brother-in-law's motorcycle. This basically entailed everyone sitting in a circle around the motorcycle taking beer shots and watching a DVD of this year's town anniversary celebration while a 2 year old bounced up and down like a maniac on a plastic yellow horse-thing in the middle of the circle. It was a pretty great time.
That's all for now,
¡Tupananchiskama! (until later)
The past week and a half have been quite eventful. We have successfully started classes at the colegio (high school), the local kids of Chijnaya can't seem to get enough of English class, I'm still playing a lot of cards (though not as much), and the rain is slowly showing its face among rather startling claps of thunder and lightening bolts.
The classes at the high school are going well, though all of the classes that we have are at a very very basic level of English, despite what their 'textbooks' indicate. We were told by the director of the high school that our job was to enhance the curriculum laid out in their texts, but these are about five or six levels above their actual abilities. This means that we are starting from scratch and get to be really creative when it comes to how we're going to structure the class. I think it's going to be quite fun, though challenging (I'm already thinking about possibilities for class at least five times a day).
The classes themselves have around 25 kids in them, from the ages of 15-20. There are many kids that come in from Chijnaya to the colegio, so we're getting to know a broader spectrum of the community as well as teaching English, which is great. So far the biggest challenge is getting the kids to talk, though they say that becoming better at pronunciation is one of their priorities. We've been playing games like 2 truths and a lie, and chalkboard races to get them involved. Now the question is maintaining that involvement throughout the next few weeks.
In our English classes in Chijnaya, involvement is the opposite of a problem. Yesterday, in the middle of a rain/thunder/lightening storm Maren discovered seven kids waiting outside her bedroom door for class! We had told them the day before that there would be no class because the school was not open, but this did not seem to bother them in the least. Of course we couldn't ignore such enthusiasm so we had a game day class, playing 'blind cow' (which everyone got a kick out of because they got to wear cow masks), Simon Says, and Memory (which they got Super into). So, despite some middle school 'delinquents' (mal criados) who were a bit disruptive last week, I'd say our classes have been quite the success!
There isn't too much news on the homefront besides the insane amount of work everyone is putting into building stables. Each family has been given money from the local government to build stables, so it seems like every where we look people are making adobe, stacking adobe, and resting against newly stacked adobe. I once offered to help and Paula's father said 'Sure, you can either take my big shovel or Richard's little one.' I replied that I should probably take his (to give him a rest) seeing as I'm rather tall. Then, as I bent down to take off my shoes so they wouldn't get caked with mud, Paula's mother (Margarita/mamaranti) called out 'No, you can't do that. It's man's work!' Paula's father had been joking with me! Anyway, I was a bit distressed, but Mamaranti (grandmother in Quechua..I think) came to the rescue again and told me I could help her cut the hay for the adobe. She is one wonderful woman.
I had some more fun last night with Paula's extended family who were celebrating the purchase of her brother-in-law's motorcycle. This basically entailed everyone sitting in a circle around the motorcycle taking beer shots and watching a DVD of this year's town anniversary celebration while a 2 year old bounced up and down like a maniac on a plastic yellow horse-thing in the middle of the circle. It was a pretty great time.
That's all for now,
¡Tupananchiskama! (until later)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
¿Te aumento?
It's funny, one of the first things people (regardless of nationality) ask me about being in Peru is whether or not I'm liking the food. I guess it's a reasonable question seeing as food is rather central in daily life and it is also the most likely way to cause illness while in a different country. The food itself, though, hasn't been so much of an issue as has my relatively small appetite. The altitude, it seems, has shrunk my stomach, so what I would normally consider to be half of what I would eat is just about perfect. This seems to worry host families to no end, and they constantly ask ¿Te aumento? (shall i give you more?) and then look at me with a face that says they're worried I'll get sick. But really I feel great and my body seems to have adapted (knock on wood) to the food quite well. I may even gain weight! They load me up with yummy chicken broth based soups that contain sliced vegetables, a small chunk of meet, and potatoes, then give me a plate of more potatoes, rice, and something else like fried egg or fish. Actually my favorite thing is oatmeal and bread in the morning, it's warm and seems like just the right way to start off the day.
Speaking of days, ours have been filling up more and more the past week and will become almost hectic next week! We have been doing small tasks like painting the bathroom/shower of the Posto de Salud (health clinic thingy), and have been getting going with larger projects, like teaching english (and frisbee!) to local kids (adults have expressed interest, but are generally incredibly busy). Yesterday we actually had to "break in" to the Posto in order to finish our painting job...which involved me climbing on adobe bricks through a very open window and passing the paint, brushes, and a ladder out the window to Maren and Daphne. I actually quite like painting; it is methodical/meditative and I feel quite useful while doing it. Kids also think painting is pretty cool, so the first day we had a couple of watchers and one girl who helped me paint the bottome of one of the walls. This girl, Jemina, is the daughter of Paula's (the mother of my family) sister and can only be described with one word--traviosa. She is not shy in the least, is very independent, is always competing with the boys, loves calling my name, and is 5 so has the cute factor going for her. She is also perpetually dirty--a sign of how vigorously she lives life.
Along with Jemina, the other children of Chijnaya have been one of the best parts of being here. Yesterday and the day before Maren, Daphne, and I had our first English classes, which turned out to be quite successful. The first day we only had two kids for a while, but they were both super into the "Lotto" game we played with them, so when other kids showed up the excitement just escalated to excellent proportions. Yesterday we started off the English lesson with a bit of frisbee, teaching a couple of boys how to throw the disc, then when more showed up we played "five-hundred" in English, only we used the numbers 1-10. Later on we played Lotto again (which they absolutely love) and the kids started getting rambunctious and energetic, with one boy commenting on everything in Quechua, which just made all the others collapse in fits of giggles. It was pretty great.
Besides English and painting I've helped bring the cows and sheep (who much more rascally than the cows) out to pasture, which is rather challenging when they bolt for the alfafa (which isn't so great for their stomachs) and generally requires two people. Maren, Daphne, and I also attended a knitting workshop...at first we weren't exactly sure what it was, so when we got there and it turned out the women had a teacher, we felt pretty silly, especially since we didn't have anything to do. Maren and Daphne ended up leaving (but with the urge to buy some knitting goods) and I fetched my weaving and brought it down for a little demonstration. The women told me to come back the next day to do some more proper teaching, but when I arrived it turned out they still had a lot to go over in the workshop, so I ended up taking photos for the teacher instead. I really enjoyed being in the company of the women, as they are easy company--always laughing, curious, lightly gossiping, and ready to tell me anything I might want to know about Peru and their community. I had a similar experience with Paula's mother, a vigorous, good-humored, and confident woman who speaks with me very plainly and openly, telling me all about how to embroider, the site near Lake Titicaca from which the community moved in the 60s (she wants to take me there), and asks me lots of questions about the food, landscape, and climate of the United States.
The immediate family that I'm living with continues to be generously hospitable and a whole lot of fun. I continue to play cards with Richard and Beto pretty much everyday, as well as playing with Davis (chico), the toddler. I've had some great conversations with Richard and Cèsar about everything ranging from traveling by airplane to traditional Andean stories (of which Cèsar knew approximate 1.5). Yesterday I taught Paula a little weaving, but she kept dozing off! She works incredibly hard, running after Davis all day, taking care of the cows, and serving cervezas to mine workers until late at night from their store (among the many things she does). Cèsar continues to be extremely helpful, talking with us to the Director of the high school to get teaching schedules figured out, telling me about local issues, and asking tons of questions about the U.S.
This family has some truly wonderful moments. Yesterday and today, for example, Davis has been wearing a sweater vest that is basically like a knit tunic on him and an awesome knit hat that looks like a mushroom and makes his head look twice as big as it is. Last night we all were frantically running around my room trying to trap a mouse (which Cèsar tried to stomp on!), but to now avail. Basically, everyday there is a lot of smiling, laughing, and skirmishes between siblings.
Well, until next week!
Speaking of days, ours have been filling up more and more the past week and will become almost hectic next week! We have been doing small tasks like painting the bathroom/shower of the Posto de Salud (health clinic thingy), and have been getting going with larger projects, like teaching english (and frisbee!) to local kids (adults have expressed interest, but are generally incredibly busy). Yesterday we actually had to "break in" to the Posto in order to finish our painting job...which involved me climbing on adobe bricks through a very open window and passing the paint, brushes, and a ladder out the window to Maren and Daphne. I actually quite like painting; it is methodical/meditative and I feel quite useful while doing it. Kids also think painting is pretty cool, so the first day we had a couple of watchers and one girl who helped me paint the bottome of one of the walls. This girl, Jemina, is the daughter of Paula's (the mother of my family) sister and can only be described with one word--traviosa. She is not shy in the least, is very independent, is always competing with the boys, loves calling my name, and is 5 so has the cute factor going for her. She is also perpetually dirty--a sign of how vigorously she lives life.
Along with Jemina, the other children of Chijnaya have been one of the best parts of being here. Yesterday and the day before Maren, Daphne, and I had our first English classes, which turned out to be quite successful. The first day we only had two kids for a while, but they were both super into the "Lotto" game we played with them, so when other kids showed up the excitement just escalated to excellent proportions. Yesterday we started off the English lesson with a bit of frisbee, teaching a couple of boys how to throw the disc, then when more showed up we played "five-hundred" in English, only we used the numbers 1-10. Later on we played Lotto again (which they absolutely love) and the kids started getting rambunctious and energetic, with one boy commenting on everything in Quechua, which just made all the others collapse in fits of giggles. It was pretty great.
Besides English and painting I've helped bring the cows and sheep (who much more rascally than the cows) out to pasture, which is rather challenging when they bolt for the alfafa (which isn't so great for their stomachs) and generally requires two people. Maren, Daphne, and I also attended a knitting workshop...at first we weren't exactly sure what it was, so when we got there and it turned out the women had a teacher, we felt pretty silly, especially since we didn't have anything to do. Maren and Daphne ended up leaving (but with the urge to buy some knitting goods) and I fetched my weaving and brought it down for a little demonstration. The women told me to come back the next day to do some more proper teaching, but when I arrived it turned out they still had a lot to go over in the workshop, so I ended up taking photos for the teacher instead. I really enjoyed being in the company of the women, as they are easy company--always laughing, curious, lightly gossiping, and ready to tell me anything I might want to know about Peru and their community. I had a similar experience with Paula's mother, a vigorous, good-humored, and confident woman who speaks with me very plainly and openly, telling me all about how to embroider, the site near Lake Titicaca from which the community moved in the 60s (she wants to take me there), and asks me lots of questions about the food, landscape, and climate of the United States.
The immediate family that I'm living with continues to be generously hospitable and a whole lot of fun. I continue to play cards with Richard and Beto pretty much everyday, as well as playing with Davis (chico), the toddler. I've had some great conversations with Richard and Cèsar about everything ranging from traveling by airplane to traditional Andean stories (of which Cèsar knew approximate 1.5). Yesterday I taught Paula a little weaving, but she kept dozing off! She works incredibly hard, running after Davis all day, taking care of the cows, and serving cervezas to mine workers until late at night from their store (among the many things she does). Cèsar continues to be extremely helpful, talking with us to the Director of the high school to get teaching schedules figured out, telling me about local issues, and asking tons of questions about the U.S.
This family has some truly wonderful moments. Yesterday and today, for example, Davis has been wearing a sweater vest that is basically like a knit tunic on him and an awesome knit hat that looks like a mushroom and makes his head look twice as big as it is. Last night we all were frantically running around my room trying to trap a mouse (which Cèsar tried to stomp on!), but to now avail. Basically, everyday there is a lot of smiling, laughing, and skirmishes between siblings.
Well, until next week!
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