Ancash

Week 6/7Ancash

My family made real Pachamanca this week…in the dirt. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. There was soooo much food. I could have counted wrong but it was right around 10 whole chickens, 2 sides of beef, and 100 potatoes more or less…in three varieties. Just when I thought they were done pulling food out of the ground there would be another layer of food. It’s a traditional dish from the sierra.

After eating a mountain of food my friends and I attempted to bake for the first time in Peru. It’s weird going into a new kitchen but not know what to buy in Spanish made it even harder. So after about 5 hours we were able to finish to batches of cupcakes. Strawberry and Oreo….they turned out pretty well the Oreo cupcakes were a little burned but the icing made up for it. The strawberry won the cupcake battle that day. We are going to try again and hopefully this time around they will be almost perfect.

The mountains….OH.MY.GOSH. They are beautiful. So this week we went on a mini field based training to Ancash…home of the Cordilleras Blanca. We visited Huaraz, the region’s capital and ventured off to Mancos and Musho, two very small villages near Huascaran one of the tallest mountains in Peru. We were at a pretty high altitude…I think it was around 11,000 ft. So I had to altitude medication that makes your toes and fingers tingle. After about two days I no longer had that shortness of breathe that many people talk about when advancing quickly up high mountains and such. The mountain was snowcapped and completely breathtaking. But the town were poor, especially Musho. Many of the homes didn’t have latrines much less bathrooms. They also had piedra stoves, which is three rocks, a couple of pieces of iron, and a fire. This causes many people in the sierra to have respiratory infections and other common illnesses due to inhaling a lot of smoke most of their lives. They don’t shower and everyone is dirty or dusty is probably a better word.  I’m starting to fit in because I too have not showered in about a week…pretty gross huh?

We visited homes talking to families about health concerns, which is what I will be doing in just a few short weeks. I learned how to build a latrine and cocina mejorada (an improved cooking stove). You wouldn’t believe how these two small things that most people take advantage of improve the quality of life of these rural people. While we were building the latrine we had about 10 children watching us mix concrete and dig holes. The first day our taxi driver slammed my finger in the car door so I was out of commission for most physical activities.  Good news though…it’s not broken and it’s looking like my nail is going to stay.

The women wear bowler hats and about 4 or 5 skirts layered one on top of the other.  Working the chacra (farm) all day they get pretty dirty so they just take of the bottom layer of the skirt and put a new one on top. I thought that was pretty strange. I really did feel like I had just stepped back in time.

No one is going to believe this next story but this really happened. So our trainers told us they had a surprise for Saturday and to wear close we wouldn’t mind getting dirty. We got really excited because we had heard the other training group had gone sand boarding. We left at 7:30 in the morning headed down one mountain and up another the view was beautiful but we kept driving and driving and finally arrived about 3 hours later and a small farm.  We then proceeded to have a class on hugging…I’m not even kind of kidding. I wish I was believe me! We are at some sort of hippie commune/cult thing. I don’t even know because everything was in Spanish so I could got about 75% of what was going on…all I knew was I didn’t like it and I wasn’t alone. Most of our groups just kept whispering to each other because we weren’t allowed to talk, “ I feel like I’m in a cult.” I would respond, “ I want to get the heck of out of here.” They then made us blindfold ourselves and walk around and then we had to eat blindfolded. It was one of the most awkward times I’ve ever had. I, of course, being stubborn did not participate in the blindfolded lunchtime or the hugging class. After 5 torturous hours all of us left complaining that it was one of the worse surprises ever and was in fact the opposite of a surprise but a torture session, especially for people like me…who “love” to hug. Lol

Nonetheless, the mountains were amazingly beautiful and it reminded me of how wonderful our Creator is and I just don’t see how people don’t believe after seeing some of the amazing places He has created.

In just 2 short days, I find out where I will be living for the next two years. I’ll keep you guys posted, though Wednesday I head out to visit my site so once again it may be a while before I can update this bad boy.

Love and miss you all,

Celeste

Ancash

WARNING: You may poop your pants!

10/21/11 week 5

So from about the first week they have warned us about pooping our pants. I guess with all the communicable diseases, viruses, and bacteria…the PC doctors have warned us that there is about a 95% chance that sometime during our PC service I WILL poop my pants. Honestly that is not something I am looking forward to. And IF or WHEN  it does happen…I promise I will not blog about it. Nonetheless I fined it mildly humorous since the idea of pooping and the topics surrounding it have always been a good laugh for me. I thought others out there who may have a similar bizarre sense of humor would enjoy this small story…for those who do not find it funny I apologize that you cannot laugh at the funny little things in life.

So this past weekend was my birthday…yup…I’m getting’ on up there. Friday afternoon I wasn’t feeling so hot but I decided to go out dancing anyway. Saturday morning our group had to go back to the University Agraria to learn about compost. I hadn’t been feeling well all morning and by 11 I thought I may die. So I took a break from class and took a nap. I thought I felt better until I got to Jockey Plaze (A HUGE mall in the center of Lima). I had a bite to eat thinking that would help…I did not I felt worst. Another girl wasn’t feeling well either so we decided to go back. Hence close to the worst 3 hours of my life. I thought I was going to pass out and I was trying to navigate my way around Lima. After 6 soles, 3 combi rides, a mototaxi and 4 Imodium AD, 2 Tylenol, and 2 Peptos I made it to my host family’s house. I had never been so excited to see a bed and bathroom. I then spent the next 4 hours sweating out a fever and trying not to poop my pants….I was successful…for now. Lol. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my birthday weekend. Oh well that’s life.

So basically this week’s blog is about poop because I have one more story…On Thursday, we had gotten out of class early so a few of us decided to walk to this clothing shop that had shirts on for about 3 bucks. On the way a bird pooped right on my face. Luckily, I had on sunglasses, which prevented it from getting my eye. Most of it hit my left cheek and it did NOT get in my mouth but it was disturbingly close. Just moments before I had thought, “ Man one of those stupid birds better not poop on me.” Several of them had been flying over our heads. I screamed and just stood there for a moment as I realized what had happened. It was on my cheek and sunglasses. My friend has some napkins. That helped a lot. An older man stopped and asked what was wrong. He laughed and said, “Some things in life you just have to laugh at.” This was definitely one of those moments. This is the second time in my life a bird has pooped on me.  They warned us about pooping our pants but they never said anything about a bird pooping on your face! At least this time it wasn’t in my hair…I think that’s worse. (Hope this gives everyone a good laugh…I know it did me!)

This week we changed language classes. I had a Spanish interview last Friday and I am now “intermediate” haha. Not sure how true that is.

This week has been a little slow a lot more technical training on health issues. I won’t bore anyone with that…not even myself.  

We will be learning about small animal husbandry with cuy tomorrow…that’s guinea pig…and yes they eat them here.

I finally got a cell phone. Yay! So I’ll be able to talk on that bad boy….if you want the number just message me on FB or whatev.

The next several weeks are going to be very hectic so I may not get to blog. We are going to Ancash in the mountains next week. I’m really excited and I’ll have plenty to report back.  It’s about 10 hours from here so it will be a busy week.

Miss you all!

My birthday cake...it was awesome...and this was before I got sick

Celeste

The Cure to Cold Showers…Don’t shower

10/14/11 week 4

So I don’t have hot water here. And I’m rolling up on a month of different methods to shower in cold water. The best method…don’t shower. Just kidding…well sort of but I have found one other way where you can be clean and not as cold.  I do about 50 pushups before I get in the shower. It really warms you up…so if you don’t have hot water do as many pushups as you can. I’m interested to see how many pushups I’ll be able to do when I leave here, especially if I live in the sierra! I find out in just a couple of weeks!

Mira Flores

So I finally made it to Mira Flores. Loved it. Great food. The beach was a little cold and 6 months out of the year it’s really cloudy in the Lima so it wasn’t very sunny. But the sound of the water rolling over the rocks was so calming. I wanted to record it so I can play it every night as go to sleep. Mira Flores is the really nice part of Lima and expensive too. They even have Starbucks and yogurt dives.

So I would like to take a minute to talk about Combis…also know as the bus system here in Peru. “Chosica, Chosica, Chosica,” yells the conductor. These buses around corners and down the street, pausing only for a few seconds to hop on with barely enough time to grab a handle, much less a seat. The conductor, the guy who takes up the money, starts at a slight jog grabbing the door and swinging it shut behind him, then you a suddenly on the rollercoaster of your life. On my way back from Mira Flores, the combi almost slammed into another car. I was sitting in a “seat” facing everyone else. When the driver slammed on the brakes I had to catch a little girl who went flying out of her mothers lap. She was pretty upset but I am thankful we didn’t wreck.

Surf Van

Football/Soccer which ever you prefer

I have been watching World Cup qualifying matches. Friday Peru beat Paraguay. The whole town was at a standstill. People crowded around bars and restaurants overflowing into the street trying to get a glimpse of the game. Tuesday Peru lost to Chile. I don’t think I have seen my host mom so upset. Everyone is so passionate about the sport here. I kind of hope it rubs off on me a little. An entire country pulling for one team….now that’s unity. Instead in the US we punch people in bars over our favorite college team.

The beach in Lima

FOOD

Anticucho… yep that’s cow heart and it’s what I had for dinner Saturday. Anticucho, another traditional Peruvian dish, is marinated in a spicy, salty sauce and grilled on a stick. The flavor was good but it tasted a lot like beef but with a little more of a rubbery texture. It’s wayyyy better than chicken heart I had in Brazil.

So my madre had surgery on Friday. She didn’t tell me until the night before but she had to have a cyst removed from her ovary, based on my poor Spanish interpretation…I think she said it wasn’t cancerous. She seems to be doing better but keep her in your prayers nonetheless. My abuela brought some food over for her and I got try masamora de leche. It’s a type of pudding made with corn, sugar, and milk. It kind of has a strange texture a mix between pudding and jello.

This week I also had another wonderful traditional Peruvian dish called Pachamanca. The traditional way it is prepared is for very large celebrations where chicken, beef, pork, potatoes (3 kinds), and lots of herbs, are buried in the ground and for a week it is baked by the sun. This is still done for festivals but is not very practical for most urban families so it can be made on the stove. It’s delicious and you can cover the whole plate in this delicious spicy sauce.

Pacamanca

Yep. If you haven’t already noticed I talk a lot about food. I should probably just make this blog about food because you will only be hearing more. In Spanish class this week we made causa. It’s basically the Peruvian version of chicken potpie but instead of a bread crust….you guessed it…. it’s potatoes. It’s great and probably my new favorite food around these parts…we expect for….the best piece of chocolate cake I’ve ever had in my life in Mira Flores! I already want another slice.

Causa

So I am going to go ahead and apologize because they warned us our English would get worse the more Spanish we learn…that’s already happening….I apologize for my poor excuse for “English” writing but hopefully you can appreciate the fact that as my English digresses my Spanish is improving!

P.S. I get a cell phone next week!!!!

A person who can pray is the mightiest instrument Christ has in this world. –E.M. Bounds

Holy 8 Million People, Batman!

Holy 8 million people 8, Batman!

Got to go to Lima on Saturday. We spent much of the morning at Universidad Agraria. We learned how to plant and maintain organic gardens. We got our hands dirty planting spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and a bunch of other yummy veggies. After a morning of getting dirty we spent about 3 hours trying to figure out the bus system. Have you seen Lima? It’s ginormous! I’m going back next weekend so hopefully then I’ll get to go to Mira Flores.

Bad news or Good news first?

Bad news…I’m already out of peanut butter. I really only like on particular kind and I don’t think I’ll be finding much of that here….Natural JIF Creamy…I’m going to miss you!

Good news…Celeste Fitness has taken Peru by storm…ok not really but I did teach a fitness class to a few women in my community. I love how they are now showing interest in fitness and I’ve only been here 3 weeks! J

More on the weather

My host mom says you can tell the temperature for the next day by how well you can see the stars the night before. If you can see the stars really well then it will be hot the next day and if you can only see a few stars then it will be cooler the next morning. Very interesting.

My Princesa Candy bar I won in Spanish class!

Peruvian Babysitting

So this week I also “babysat” my host brothers. It was quite an experience watching them since I barely speak Spanish. They ultimately ended up just playing videogames while I cleaned the kitchen.

Jesus is worthy of our trust, all of our plans and dreams, and all of our affections. John 9:57-62

Lesson Learned

We have focused a lot this week on early childhood stimulation and teaching English in our communities. It was very encouraging to talk to other volunteers about side projects we can do at our sites. They also gave us some great tips on places to travel in Peru. I couldn’t be more excited. They also said I will able to certify for TESL/TEFL for a discounted rate! Yippee!

Teaching English last week!

My language group had to put on a puppet show about washing your hands. Outside of language, our main training focus is health and non-formal education. So I helped write a Spanish song about washing your hands.  The song is really fun and interactive. It was a total hit. A lot of other volunteers even wanted a copy of the song so they could use it at site.  

This week I have really been thinking a lot about sacrifice and what the word truly means. Mark 9:2 It is a great thing to be there on the mount with God, but a man only get there in order that afterwards we may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up.  We are not built or the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all.  We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff, and that is where we have to prove our mettle. –Oswald Chambers

This week I also have been reading in Ephesians. Now more than ever I realize how important it is to put on the FULL armor of God. We need to be ready for battle everyday.

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For out battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the world powers of darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.  This why you must take up the fully armor of God, so that you may be able to resist the evil day, and having prepared EVERYTHING, to take YOUR stand! Eph. 6:10- 13.

Jordan, "my cousin" taking a break from soccer.

So put on your belt, your chest plate, your sandaled feet, your shield, your helmet, and your sword….Be ready for battle! It awaits you when you awake each day!

Love you all!

Celeste