Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Long time, no see (with pictures!)

I know, I know. I am aware that it's been over 2 months since my last blog posting. Partly because I am a procrastinator and it's always, "tomorrow, tomorrow." Most of the other part is because it is quite impossible to share what I live. This isn 't a vacation. This isn't a 1 month mission trip. This is my JOB. And while I am quite familiar with what I do and experience, it's sometimes hard to relate that to other people, let alone in words in a language I don't use most days. Ok, apology done.
 
Let's get started:
 
 
This is one of the Lagunas that we have close to my site (about 30 min by car). It's one of the largest trout-producing lagunas in the area, too. (Pretty much the only seafood you should eat in the mountains) A group of us went here late October and had a picnic lunch. There are also restaurants nearby of which the boys took advantage of because my "American lunch" of "pan con huevo/egg sandwhich" was just not enough to llenar/fill them up.
 
In November, we came back to the Laguna for a "Fight against Women's violence" committee activity. We got members of the community together to form a laso/ribbon of the white fabric to represent that we say ALTO A LA VIOLENCIA!/STOP THE VIOLENCE! Overall, it was great to work with Enith, one of my main socias (community counterparts, with white scarf in front of serenazgo/security guard on the right). Can we give some PROPS to the wind that day making our bandera/flag super Peruvian?
 
Just posing for my new Peace Corps profile pic. Represent La Libertad!
 

Nov 25th was International Fight Against Women's Violence day, and even GOOGLE was celebrating! We had a desfile/parade around town and even the alcade/mayor showed up. Can I get 5 high-fives for great photo taking skills above? We had over 500 women from the casarillos (smaller communities that lay around Huamachuco), a band or so, and tons of balloons. Tons. The sun was fierce, and of course I didn't bring my sunscreen to the event, so I was off running to the nearest farmacia/pharmacy to grab a sachet/smallenvelope of sunscreen. It was a successfull mission (sunscreen attempt and the event overall) and we raised a lot of awareness to the 60,000+ people in my site.


In October, a group of us went to Markahuamachuco, an ancient archelogical site about 30 minutes away by car (and up a big mountain to an even-higher elevation, 3500 meters/11,300 ish feet) Breathing was a struggle, and the lack of oxygen made me feel a little sick, not going to lie. Others in our group are from the area, so they had no problem scampering around the rocks and darting up steep inclines. I, on the other hand, was breathing in, but nothing was reaching my lungs. Needless to say, it took me a bit longer. I would say "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," but here in Peru the saying is, "What doesn't kill you makes you fatter." I definietly feel that doesn't apply to my excursion. Overall, it was nice to see where people lived so many years ago. It's this culture that is embedded in Huamachuco's current culture that makes its traditions so rich.
Checking out the view.
 

In December, we visited Wiracochapampa, another archelogical site (and also where Oscar currently works, but more on him later). Again, it's just so amazing seeing stones that were put into these formations so long ago. It's INCREDIBLE and so enriching!

In the main plaza of Wira(cochapampa), on the principal stage
Passing through Wira, we continued walking through Payapampa until we reached the end of the road where it was nothing but down-hill slopes. (IE. PHOTO BELOW). We then continued (against my gut reaction) to scale down this (hill they call it, but I call it mountain), which had extra-slippery mud and no camino/road/pathway and we were literally BUSHWACKING it through the Peruvian Andes. Once reaching the bottom (after 1.5 hours), we crossed a river (formed by the waterfall we orginally came to see) by foot and began our journey climbing back up the other side. I know, it all seems a little tarzan to me, too. To be honest, this picture doesn't do it justice, and I still can't believe I made it. I have a cut on my foot, a nice 9-inch wide bruise on my left hip, and sore knees, but it was a great adventure, especially with good friends by my side (who I am very thankful for pushing me to continue). Seriously, I was looking for my helicopter rescue.


The backside of these jeans don't look too nice.

 
And now, I will introduce my very supportive and all-around good-hearted boyfriend, Oscar Ubillus.
 

I met Oscar in my site, Huamachuco, in mid-August. Another volunteer who lives on the coast has a host brother (Calo) who works in my site. Oscar is Calo's friend. I joked with this volunteer to have his host brother send me Coke Zero by way of Calo, and to my disbelief, he did it! Oscar tagged along that night, and we ended up talking, hanging out, etc. etc. etc.
 
Oscar is orginally from Lima, (notice those beautiful green eyes and favorable skin complection?) and recently turned 27. He has worked in Huamachuco for the past 3 years in different archeloegical sites (Marcahuamachuco, Wira) drawing the ancient walls before they are excavated. He is really passionate about what he does, and puts his Bachellor of Plastic Arts to use. In his spare time, he likes to collect antiguidades/antiques, sculpt, draw, etc. I've only seen a bit of his work, but he is very talented.
 
Oscar is one of those people who give give give give and give, and he gives me so much joy in how he is so supportive of my work here in Peru. He really understands my role as a Youth Development volunteer, and is always looking for opportunities to help me advance my projects. We also both know in two years I finish my contract with Peace Corps, but we are open and honest with each other about the future and where we see ourselves going. A lot can happen in two years!
 
We made 3 months on December 17th, 2013
 
Until the next time! Which hopefully won't be another 2 months. :-) Let's hope not.