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| Welcome to Huamachuco |
How does a month slip by so easily? These days seem to drag by (the productive and the not-so-productive ones) but the weeks, months, (and soon to be years) keep on slippin' slippin' slippin'.
I'm rounding about two months in site. 22 more to go, right? 4 months ago, when I was fresh off the boat, 24 months in site seemed like an eternity. Now, I'm wondering if I'll have time to start, monitor, and finish all the projects that keep popping into my head. Huamachuco needs apoyo (support), and everyday I ask myself, how in the world is this gonna happen?
2 months in, however, I'm starting to gain a bit of confidence. I'm starting to get to know my community and when I come back after a couple of days at the regional meeting, my feelings are warm and fuzzy. This is my site. I wish others could come visit (6 hrs from the coast/regional capital tends to do that to you), but for now I'll settle for the 5 chickens that always escape their pen and surprise me at my door. You have to take the early wins.
As far as projects... Not too much has changed. I'm still teaching my Tutoria one hour a week to 40 students. We touch on topics such as self esteem and making good decisions. It's a challenge, definitely. Their learning styles are different than what I'm used to, so every class, I have to figure out how to adapt to that, without freaking them out too much.
I help out with two English classes and another Tutoria class during the week as well. Mainly just observing in those classes. It's amazing how much you can take in when you just sit and listen. Oh I can imagine my mom doing a hard head nod in agreement right about now.
A future project I'm interested in would be the new library. The municipality (muni for short, like the local government) has a brand new space to move the library into, but they have no action plan and quite frankly, the whole project lacks a lot of pilas (literally means batteries. more like OOOMPH/GUSTO). I feel like I am the sole person who has an interest in it, but that's just the way it works. I've been designated (thanks to my sitemate, Lindsay) to create an action plan complete with design examples and research articles to present to the muni to prove to them I can make this space AWESOME but still functional. Change is hard... and it seems especially so in the Sierra.
The rainy season has begun in Huamachuco. Meaning it is partly/mostly cloudy all day with some serious downpour in the afternoons that sometimes lasts into the night. Temps during the day average around 65 or so (it's hard to say, really), but at night I can see my breath and often go to bed in multiple layers. Traditionally in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are opposite that of the northern sphere (including good old Amuurrica), but in the Sierra, it's opposite of Peru's "normal" and more like what I know. So while the coast is now entering the season of "summer," Huamachuco is creeping into "winter." It doesn't bother me too much, but I'll be requesting my flannel pajamas and bedroom slippers for Christmas.
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| Rain with hail (granizos) |
Recently in my site, they discovered an ancient water canal system underneath my plaza de armas. Sorry, the site is in Castellano (what Peruvians call Spanish), but it's still worth the read. DESCUBREN ANTIGUO CANAL
In early October, my town celebrated Dia de Los Negritos, which includes people decorating the plaza de armas with tinted sawdust such as below:
In honor of San Francisco de Asís, barefooted walkers wear a maroon cape with a white collar, and a matching maroon hat. Carrying red carnations in their mouths, they dance interpretively to classic Huayno music. The procession is compiled of women, men, and children, all of whom are devotees of the Saint.
Well, it seems strange to summarize a month in less than 800 words, but these are just the highlights. I could tell you of all the NCIS and CSI marathons I have had, but that won't be important to remember in two years. :-)
Love to everyone in the US of A and everyone abroad.
Cheyenne
