Living in a new family always brings its own adventures, whether big or small. This family, the Paricela Yanquis ( or 'Los Libios' according to César) are very, very different from the Hallasi Quispes, César and Paula's family. There are 11 siblings, some of whom I doubt I will ever meet, and five of them are living, however temporarily, at home. Others of them are also living in Chijnaya with there own families, and the rest are mostly in Juliaca. The effect of so many siblings seems to show itself in the younger ones through their independence and creativity. They don't seem to rely on their parents much at all for sources of entertainment or what to do with their day, unlike Beto and Richard who are often in the company of their parents lending to a very different family dynamic. Los Libios are also, seemingly, quite self-assured. This, I think, comes from their parents who are very thoughtful people, steady, attentive, and loving. Their father is also demanding, expecting the best out of each of his children and supporting them as they pursue their various (but not outlandish) interests. What all this results in, as far as I can tell, is a stable family who all enjoy one another's company, and who know how to have good fun as well as being able to accomplish a lot with what they're given.
The real stars of my experience with this family are the three youngest--Libio, Umberto, and Delia. Libio is 13 or 14 and going into his third year of colegio, or freshman year in our terms. He is a gentle, responsible older brother who is incredibly intelligent and obviously going somewhere. He also Loves playing games, like Capture the Ball, which he often heads up, gets underway, and more or less refs (although this is a hard job for anybody...usually disputes just get settle between the two people involved). Umberto is around 11 and going into 6th grade...basically I can see him being a magician when he's older. He loves trying out new tricks, making other people laugh, is creative, and also seems to like being by himself more than the others. He's hysterical...I wish I could remember some of his quotes to share with you...I'll try to remember some for next time. He puts a lot of emphasis on the middle of the key word to whatever he is saying...like 'gigAAnte aguila'...in a deeper voice. It's pretty amazing. Delia is 8 or 9 (I forget which) and is...daydreamy. When she gets going she Really gets going, but normally she's staring off into space singing to herself. Apparently, her mother tells me, she used to be super helpful, cooking, milking cows, doing all her homework, etc. but now she just says 'Ya no puedo mami...me da flojera' ('I can't anymore mommy...it makes me lazy') and goes off and plays. She also, not surprisingly, has a Huge imagination and loves to draw.
With these three I've already had a number of adventures. At the beginning of my stay with them all they wanted to do was play cards and would often come busting into my rooming looking to see what I was up to. That has slowed down a bit as the novelty of me is wearing off slightly, but we still play a whole lot. Three days ago they took me with them to arrear (herd/graze) the cows and they had fun laughing at me as I cut down wheat with them in a way that was, apparently, totally silly...though I personally couldn't see it : ). Two days ago I went with them again, though farther away, and we found lots and lots of bees that had their holes in the dirt. Umberto almost immediately set to digging out these holes while I, briefly, looked on horrified that he was going to get stung like crazy by all these bees, and then when I realized he wasn't, I went to watch him and to attempt to take pictures of the bees going in and out of their holes. Delia and Libio joined in and soon found what they called honey, but what I would call condensed pollen, which they ate exclaiming over its deliciousness. I avoided it afraid of parasites (which probably don't exist in condensed pollen)...but I can imagine. Then we had what amounts to a photo shoot, running around to various scenic places and taking one anothers photos...in the canihua (don't ask me what it is...I have no idea), pulling out weeds in the wheat, in the habas (lima beans), by some pretty flowers, and then up in a tree. The tree had coincidentally dropped a substantial limb that we broke with rocks so we could bring it back to the house for firewood. The day ended with a wild ride on a too small bicycle carrying me, Delia, and, occasionaly, Umberto. The bike had a rather low tire and a broken stuff-carrier thingy on the back, so Delia rode on the bar in front of me, and when the road wasn't too bumpy (as in small streams going across) Umberto somehow got himself onto small protrusions hold together the front tire and held on there, crouching so I could see over him. The ride amounted to something that looked vaguely like Guido and family's ride in Life is Beautiful...only with cows as obstacles rather than buildings...debateable which is worse...buildings don't kick or scare.
Yesterday Umberto and I found ourselves mysteriously by ourselves in the house...I totally missed the whole cow leaving part...Where was I? So I asked him what he was up to and he said he didn't know, then suddenly had a brilliant idea...we could pasear to the cerro (walk around on the mountain/hill). I said sure, Great! and he said we could also paint. I assumed this meant painting on paper, but when I asked him a little later if he was ready to go and where the paper was he just said Oh! we're not bringing paper! We're going to paint on rocks! Well, Sweet! I said...or maybe that's just what I thought because I don't know of an equivalent to sweet! in spanish. So we walked more or less Straight up the hill/mountain until we came to some pretty sweet cliffs. Umberto, hands on hips, looked around and decided on a place that would be good to paint. We set to work with Yalo the dog looking on. I decided to paint a god-hand reaching towards something unknown, but when Umberto saw it he was skeptical and said it looked more like a puma. So I decided to give it black fingernails and yellow 'energy' lines for effect...it turned out looking like a deranged monster hand, mostly because the rest of it was blue. Umberto drew a nice apple and banana, then decided that was too tame so took to drawing daggers dripping in blood. Then I drew an eagle that ended up looking like a large seagull that was too big for the rock it was on. This was ammended by having the second wing not stretched out, but right along side the other one. Umberto liked the look of this deranged bird, so helped me paint it some stunning colors. In the end this strange eagle/seagull looked like a multicolored ninja off to incompetently fight its foes.
Besides Libio, Umberto, and Delia, there are also two older brothers living in the house. Fredy is 22 and works (or worked? I'm not really sure) in the gold mines four hours away from Juliaca. He is very talkative, friendly, and seems to have perpetually good humor. Recently the stars have been dominating the sky rather than clouds, and Fredy and I have had nice conversations talking about different constellations. Milan is 17 and just graduated from high school and may or may not be about to start a sort of technical college. He's also a very good humored guy, but much more reserved than the others, so I don't know him too well yet.
Well, it looks like I've fallen back to my old ways of incredibly wordy, long blog posts...I hope you all continue to enjoy reading anyway! I'll keep you updated on any further adventures in the weeks to come.
Los Andes
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Basically, all I have to say is look at Maren's blog for a great "You know you've been in Peru too long when..." list:
http://maren-in-peru.blogspot.com
http://maren-in-peru.blogspot.com
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
At Luis's House
So. Far too much time has gone by with hardly a mention of Luis. Well, the hour is finally his. Last weekend Maren, Daphne, and I went to visit him and his family in the nearby sprawling city of Juliaca where we aprovechado (nicely took advantage of) the oven at his house. We baked chocolate chip cookies the first night and made oven-roasted chicken, potatoes, veggies, and super yummy squash squares (thank you Daphne!) the second night. After having dinner the second night, Daphne brought out her fiddle and she played some fiddle tunes as well as some songs that she and I sang for Luis and his veterinary friend Nestor. I managed to stay on key, but we did burst into fits of laughter a couple of times when we both forgot the words and just made some up. After Nestor left we cracked open a bottle of very bad wine (though better than the stuff they sell in Chijnaya) and finished it while talking about all sorts of things, from Peru to the United states, from music to books. The whole visit was a great to show him and his family (his mom and sisters, mostly) how much we appreciate him.
But more about Luis. Well, Maren and Daphne met him while playing cards and generally being bored at the Anniversary Fiesta. Luis tells us that he had just started working in Pucara and didn't have any friends yet...so when he saw Maren and Daphne he thought to himself "Hmm, those girls look like great people to have a conversation with!" and sat himself down to play, and basically they chatted for the next few hours (Luis apparently decided that was more worthwhile than going to a meeting with his boss!). Well, since then he has taken us around Juliaca, showing us the ropes of the rather dangerous city, helped us find combis to Puno, come over for a couple of great poker nights at Daphne's house, eaten dinner with us at Maren's house, provided us with beds when we had to do business in Puno/Juliaca, let us sit on his bed and watch a Korean soap opera (Escalera al Cielo) until the wee hours (though the next time we visited he moved the TV into the guest room), saved Veronica's calf from the tick (note how it's not plural) on its nose, and has been all around stellar company. I mean what more could you want from a friend than good conversation about books, animals, philosophies about life, and the occasional teasings and proddings to get off your bum and dance in the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaría (I had to, unfortunately, decline that offer)? We're going to try to figure out a way to get him up to the States so you all can meet him too! Still working on that though...darn immigration policies are only slightly uptight.
Oh, and he taught me how to ride a motorcycle yesterday! Don't worry Mom, it's not something I plan on taking up as a hobby. To read about that funny experience, refer to Maren's hilarious blog.
But more about Luis. Well, Maren and Daphne met him while playing cards and generally being bored at the Anniversary Fiesta. Luis tells us that he had just started working in Pucara and didn't have any friends yet...so when he saw Maren and Daphne he thought to himself "Hmm, those girls look like great people to have a conversation with!" and sat himself down to play, and basically they chatted for the next few hours (Luis apparently decided that was more worthwhile than going to a meeting with his boss!). Well, since then he has taken us around Juliaca, showing us the ropes of the rather dangerous city, helped us find combis to Puno, come over for a couple of great poker nights at Daphne's house, eaten dinner with us at Maren's house, provided us with beds when we had to do business in Puno/Juliaca, let us sit on his bed and watch a Korean soap opera (Escalera al Cielo) until the wee hours (though the next time we visited he moved the TV into the guest room), saved Veronica's calf from the tick (note how it's not plural) on its nose, and has been all around stellar company. I mean what more could you want from a friend than good conversation about books, animals, philosophies about life, and the occasional teasings and proddings to get off your bum and dance in the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaría (I had to, unfortunately, decline that offer)? We're going to try to figure out a way to get him up to the States so you all can meet him too! Still working on that though...darn immigration policies are only slightly uptight.
Oh, and he taught me how to ride a motorcycle yesterday! Don't worry Mom, it's not something I plan on taking up as a hobby. To read about that funny experience, refer to Maren's hilarious blog.
So fiestas...yeah. Well now that I finally have time to write about them, I'm looking back and thinking that they all just kind of blur into a large fiesta of tomando Brahma from tiny plastic cups, and doing a whole lot of dancing to mostly huayno and the occasional cumbia. There are a few moments that stick out though:
-During the baile promocional (or graduation dance) for the colegio I was the madrina (again!...they seem to use madrinas and padrinos for every big event...but don't worry, I didn't spend much money on it at all...i just gave her photos of it afterward!) for my sixteen year old neighbor Elizabeth, or Eli. She's a great girl who hangs out with us a lot in the evenings playing with Chico and bantering with Beto and Richard. Anyway, during that baile promocional we came into our first contact with the "Circle dance." This is a very intricate and complicated dance in which the participants shuffle around in vague huayno steps while passing and chugging cervezita. Occasionally people get crazy and spin their partner around or something, but that's only de vez en cuando. Mostly it just reminded Maren of a lame middle school mixer with beer.
-On the monday before New Year's we went to a Corrida de Toros...a bullfight. We skipped the one on Sunday because it was a Corrida de Muerto in which the bull is killed (and then eaten afterward), but for some reason we just really didn't feel the need to see that. Anyway, the corrida that we did see was pretty fun, although we sat there waiting for about an hour and a half and I got severly burned. The bulls run around, sometimes try to escape by attempting to hurtle the walls of the arena, men in schmancy suits with red or purple flags/caps antagonize the bull, and when it gets tired men try to lasooe it then pull it out of the arena (which usually takes at least 3 men).
-On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day I attended to Corte de Pelo ceremonies for the youngest children of Paula's sisters, Dionisia and Luzmila. The first was for Dionisia's baby girl, Nayeli (I think that's how it's spelled) and the second was for Luzmila's son Chano. The basic concept is that the baby is sat out on a sheet, the guests line up, choose three intact coca leaves and with them wish good things for the child, put the coca leaves in wine (?), and then the first madrina makes and "pays" for the first cut of hair. The payment is money (for wealthier families it can get into the thousands), toys, or promises of goodies to come. From then on the hair is "sold" to following padrinos and madrinas (usually all of the guests). It seems like there are generally two rounds of haircutting, and in between the rounds there is more dancing and drinking. It's quite a feast. Chano's Corte de Pelo was preceded by his baptism, so the party was larger, with an "orchestra" (really just a band) and everything!
Well, those were the most exciting fiesta time occurences. Next time maybe I'll actually bring myself up to date (about last weekend for example!)
-During the baile promocional (or graduation dance) for the colegio I was the madrina (again!...they seem to use madrinas and padrinos for every big event...but don't worry, I didn't spend much money on it at all...i just gave her photos of it afterward!) for my sixteen year old neighbor Elizabeth, or Eli. She's a great girl who hangs out with us a lot in the evenings playing with Chico and bantering with Beto and Richard. Anyway, during that baile promocional we came into our first contact with the "Circle dance." This is a very intricate and complicated dance in which the participants shuffle around in vague huayno steps while passing and chugging cervezita. Occasionally people get crazy and spin their partner around or something, but that's only de vez en cuando. Mostly it just reminded Maren of a lame middle school mixer with beer.
-On the monday before New Year's we went to a Corrida de Toros...a bullfight. We skipped the one on Sunday because it was a Corrida de Muerto in which the bull is killed (and then eaten afterward), but for some reason we just really didn't feel the need to see that. Anyway, the corrida that we did see was pretty fun, although we sat there waiting for about an hour and a half and I got severly burned. The bulls run around, sometimes try to escape by attempting to hurtle the walls of the arena, men in schmancy suits with red or purple flags/caps antagonize the bull, and when it gets tired men try to lasooe it then pull it out of the arena (which usually takes at least 3 men).
-On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day I attended to Corte de Pelo ceremonies for the youngest children of Paula's sisters, Dionisia and Luzmila. The first was for Dionisia's baby girl, Nayeli (I think that's how it's spelled) and the second was for Luzmila's son Chano. The basic concept is that the baby is sat out on a sheet, the guests line up, choose three intact coca leaves and with them wish good things for the child, put the coca leaves in wine (?), and then the first madrina makes and "pays" for the first cut of hair. The payment is money (for wealthier families it can get into the thousands), toys, or promises of goodies to come. From then on the hair is "sold" to following padrinos and madrinas (usually all of the guests). It seems like there are generally two rounds of haircutting, and in between the rounds there is more dancing and drinking. It's quite a feast. Chano's Corte de Pelo was preceded by his baptism, so the party was larger, with an "orchestra" (really just a band) and everything!
Well, those were the most exciting fiesta time occurences. Next time maybe I'll actually bring myself up to date (about last weekend for example!)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Writing From Bolivia
For a post-New Year's/Christmas vacation (and rest from the ridiculous amount of fiestas in Chijnaya and Pucará) Maren, Daphne, and I decided to venture across the border to the strangely alluring country of Bolivia. So that's where I am now! Writing to you all from the Loki hostel after a day of wonderfully cheap and thrillingly adventurous mountain biking! La Paz (and Bolivia in general) is an unfortunately nerve-wracking place because of all the police around who are supposed to be really corrupt and all the rateros (pickpockets) that are rumored to be around. So far so good, though...knock on wood. Besides that, though, the countryside is beautiful, the city is less touristy than Cusco with just as much good food (went to a great Indian place yesterday!) and great deals on anything you could possibly want! For example, I bought a pair of incredible chrome blue (i'm not sure if that is a possible color combination) spandex shorts for 15 Bolivianos, or about 2 bucks. I was psyched. Anyway, the city is huge and is nestled in a steep valley whose hillsides are covered with houses and other buildings. At night the hills look alive with dying embers---all the streets have streetlights of about the same wattage.
But I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself. So much has happened in Peru between now and my last post! So many fiestas! And all so different! It boggles my mind. Here's how the days unfolded:
12/23: The day of Leidi's graduation from elementary school party. After waiting the customary hora peruana (meaning that everything starts at least an hour after it's supposed to), we were fed a huge bowl of soup, asado de alpaca (i'm really not sure of how to describe this dish...), and then wafer cookies with champagne. Then they had a simple but very nice ceremony in which the students and their padrinos (me included) stood up and were presented to the guests. The kids all looked quite smart in their party clothes...especially Leidi who was wearing a sparkly green dress and sparkly heels that were just about as nice, if not nicer, than my prom dress! Then each student received a diploma, a medal, and a gift. A few "inspiring" speeches were given, as well as a tearful thank you and goodbye from the professor. Then, best of all, the music started and all the students were encouraged/forced to stand up and dance for us! The all stood in a circle dancing and took turns dancing in the center of the circle either alone or with a partner that was embarrassingly pushed toward them. I was quite impressed that none of them died of embarrassment and on top of that managed to dance decently well (especially Leidi!). Finally the grown-ups decided it was time to start drinking more seriously (beer had been passed around the whole time) and that it was their turn to dance. Some grabbed a student (or vice versa) and started dancing with just students. This quickly, though, turned into just adults dancing with adults while the kids escaped outside to play. Maren, Daphne, and I all were dragged to the dance floor and I was lucky enough to be the main event for a good 4 minutes---One of the parents of a boy from the colegio (and also a good friend of the family) decided it would be a fantastic idea to drag me, the poor blonde gringa wearing Daphne's red flamenco skirt, out to the center of the room and have what almost felt like a dance off...except that he would lead me and I would follow, "copying" him, though it was more like we were trying to one-up each other. It was really actually very fun despite the potential for mortification. By the end of the night most of the kids had disappeared, most of the adults were chock full of revelry, and it was raining so hard there were genuine rivers in the middle of most of the streets. At the end of the night it seemed like all I had taken away from the party were soggy feet and an unfortunately drunk neighbor to walk home...but looking back I not only got to show-off my fantabulous dancing skills, but I also had great conversations with Zenovia (Leidi's mother), as well as gaining an ahijada! Pretty cool.
And that was only the first night of the fiestas! They pretty much continued straight through New Year's Day!
12/24: I will write the rest soon! Unfortunately everything else I wrote got erased!
But for your personal enjoyment, take a look at some huayno videos for a taste of what kind of music we get to hear all the time!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGxZhJYbTAg&feature=related :Rosita de Espinar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OykEwDRFiOE :Sonia Morales (maybe my favorite)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3aVumDW19M :Dina Paucar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__L0nrT-Tw :William Luna
But I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself. So much has happened in Peru between now and my last post! So many fiestas! And all so different! It boggles my mind. Here's how the days unfolded:
12/23: The day of Leidi's graduation from elementary school party. After waiting the customary hora peruana (meaning that everything starts at least an hour after it's supposed to), we were fed a huge bowl of soup, asado de alpaca (i'm really not sure of how to describe this dish...), and then wafer cookies with champagne. Then they had a simple but very nice ceremony in which the students and their padrinos (me included) stood up and were presented to the guests. The kids all looked quite smart in their party clothes...especially Leidi who was wearing a sparkly green dress and sparkly heels that were just about as nice, if not nicer, than my prom dress! Then each student received a diploma, a medal, and a gift. A few "inspiring" speeches were given, as well as a tearful thank you and goodbye from the professor. Then, best of all, the music started and all the students were encouraged/forced to stand up and dance for us! The all stood in a circle dancing and took turns dancing in the center of the circle either alone or with a partner that was embarrassingly pushed toward them. I was quite impressed that none of them died of embarrassment and on top of that managed to dance decently well (especially Leidi!). Finally the grown-ups decided it was time to start drinking more seriously (beer had been passed around the whole time) and that it was their turn to dance. Some grabbed a student (or vice versa) and started dancing with just students. This quickly, though, turned into just adults dancing with adults while the kids escaped outside to play. Maren, Daphne, and I all were dragged to the dance floor and I was lucky enough to be the main event for a good 4 minutes---One of the parents of a boy from the colegio (and also a good friend of the family) decided it would be a fantastic idea to drag me, the poor blonde gringa wearing Daphne's red flamenco skirt, out to the center of the room and have what almost felt like a dance off...except that he would lead me and I would follow, "copying" him, though it was more like we were trying to one-up each other. It was really actually very fun despite the potential for mortification. By the end of the night most of the kids had disappeared, most of the adults were chock full of revelry, and it was raining so hard there were genuine rivers in the middle of most of the streets. At the end of the night it seemed like all I had taken away from the party were soggy feet and an unfortunately drunk neighbor to walk home...but looking back I not only got to show-off my fantabulous dancing skills, but I also had great conversations with Zenovia (Leidi's mother), as well as gaining an ahijada! Pretty cool.
And that was only the first night of the fiestas! They pretty much continued straight through New Year's Day!
12/24: I will write the rest soon! Unfortunately everything else I wrote got erased!
But for your personal enjoyment, take a look at some huayno videos for a taste of what kind of music we get to hear all the time!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGxZhJYbTAg&feature=related :Rosita de Espinar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OykEwDRFiOE :Sonia Morales (maybe my favorite)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3aVumDW19M :Dina Paucar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__L0nrT-Tw :William Luna
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Some Snippets
Well, I was lazy and didn't write a proper blog, but there's been a lot of stuff that has happened, so I'll tell you about them in bullet form:
-Leidi, the 11 year old daughter of Zenovia and a regular in our classes, asked me to be her madrina (godmother)! There is going to be a celebration for her graduation from elementary school
-there are tons of little explosions everywhere 24/7 (many thanks to Richard and Beto) because apparently firecrackers are sold around christmas time.
-We FINALLY had some people show up for adult English class, but it was short lived...the two who came left Chijnaya once the professor's strike at the University of Puno ended.
-Went to Juliaca (where we stayed at our veterenarian friend Luis's house and watched a fantastic Korean soap opera) and then Puno in hopes of getting my Christmas package...which sadly did not happen (nor have I gotten Sam and Aubrey's letter..boo.) though I did get to eat Scrumptious cake. A dark chocolate-coffee concoction that satisfied my sugar cravings for at least a day.
-Dionisia, Paula's sister, had a techamiento (roofing) celebration during which a lot of asado de alpaca was eaten, beer drunk, and huaynos danced. I also had a couple of great conversations, the first involving storytelling (my favorite!) and the second about past volunteers and life as a young adult in Chijnaya/Peru. Oh, and Dionisia asked me to be her daughter's madrina too! So I not only get to attend the very interesting Corta Pelo ceremony (first haircut), but I also will have two god daughters! Wow, didn't think that was going to happen for a while.
-The next morning at 5:00 I woke up (with a bit of struggle) to go with Richard, Verónica, Daphne, and Maren to Juliaca to buy...a puppy!!! For Verónica's family. His name is Loki (after the Norse trickster god and a hostal in Cusco) and he is grey with a splotch of white on his chest and toe socks and a "lab" and super duper cute.
-I've been doing a lot of watching/playing with Davis lately. He is quite the little boy. Picks up Everything, throws most of it, babbles constantly, and has a smile that just glows. A couple of days ago he decided it would be really fun to slide from a slight rise of dirt in back of their house onto the lower part, lay there for a minute, crawl a little ways, then get up and do it again. There was a bit of dirt eating going on too...yum. Then, he decided that he would make his game even better by grabbing onto my hair and swinging from the rise to the lower part, laughing hysterically all the while. Luckily I was soon called away to help peel potatoes and wash dishes.
-Oh, and apparently Beto took my cell phone with him to arrear the vaca and found a Signal, so decided it would be way cool to try to call people. So if you got a random phone call from me, from Peru, that's why. Thanks Beto.
Well, that's all for now, hope to hear from you all! Enjoy the snow, those of you in the Northeast. I hope it hasn't all melted!
-Leidi, the 11 year old daughter of Zenovia and a regular in our classes, asked me to be her madrina (godmother)! There is going to be a celebration for her graduation from elementary school
-there are tons of little explosions everywhere 24/7 (many thanks to Richard and Beto) because apparently firecrackers are sold around christmas time.
-We FINALLY had some people show up for adult English class, but it was short lived...the two who came left Chijnaya once the professor's strike at the University of Puno ended.
-Went to Juliaca (where we stayed at our veterenarian friend Luis's house and watched a fantastic Korean soap opera) and then Puno in hopes of getting my Christmas package...which sadly did not happen (nor have I gotten Sam and Aubrey's letter..boo.) though I did get to eat Scrumptious cake. A dark chocolate-coffee concoction that satisfied my sugar cravings for at least a day.
-Dionisia, Paula's sister, had a techamiento (roofing) celebration during which a lot of asado de alpaca was eaten, beer drunk, and huaynos danced. I also had a couple of great conversations, the first involving storytelling (my favorite!) and the second about past volunteers and life as a young adult in Chijnaya/Peru. Oh, and Dionisia asked me to be her daughter's madrina too! So I not only get to attend the very interesting Corta Pelo ceremony (first haircut), but I also will have two god daughters! Wow, didn't think that was going to happen for a while.
-The next morning at 5:00 I woke up (with a bit of struggle) to go with Richard, Verónica, Daphne, and Maren to Juliaca to buy...a puppy!!! For Verónica's family. His name is Loki (after the Norse trickster god and a hostal in Cusco) and he is grey with a splotch of white on his chest and toe socks and a "lab" and super duper cute.
-I've been doing a lot of watching/playing with Davis lately. He is quite the little boy. Picks up Everything, throws most of it, babbles constantly, and has a smile that just glows. A couple of days ago he decided it would be really fun to slide from a slight rise of dirt in back of their house onto the lower part, lay there for a minute, crawl a little ways, then get up and do it again. There was a bit of dirt eating going on too...yum. Then, he decided that he would make his game even better by grabbing onto my hair and swinging from the rise to the lower part, laughing hysterically all the while. Luckily I was soon called away to help peel potatoes and wash dishes.
-Oh, and apparently Beto took my cell phone with him to arrear the vaca and found a Signal, so decided it would be way cool to try to call people. So if you got a random phone call from me, from Peru, that's why. Thanks Beto.
Well, that's all for now, hope to hear from you all! Enjoy the snow, those of you in the Northeast. I hope it hasn't all melted!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving!
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)