Photos

Fun from my birthday party with the Cubas´, the students coming over to wish me a happy happy, and a little first communion baptism in the host family. We had the despedida last night and though I did not get emotional, it is starting to hit home more that I am leaving in two weeks. Very very soon. But I am absolutely loving the present and am enjoying every moment I am spending with the wonderful people of Peru.

730 Mark

I don´t have much time to write with all the craziness going on with new volunteers coming tomorrow and Maureen´s birthday as well (we have a few good surprises in store). Nevertheless, I felt like noting that it is indeed my two year anniversary from stepping off the plane in humble ole Tacna, Peru. Everyone always said it would fly by, and it has, but don´t forget, there are still two months of fun to go!

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was a blast down here in Peru - and in retrospect, a great mix of cultures. Interestingly, in order to combat the external cultural influence of Halloween, the government here made October 31st Day of the Cancion Criolla. It didn´t stop us - and many businesses, nightclubs, and little kids - from having a little spooky fun though.

To start, despite high expectations from last year´s successful Haunted House (the students have been asking about it all year round), we pulled off a great one this year. We raised money for the upcoming Mes de Mision by turning our house into a dark, spiderweb-filled, scary graveyard (thanks partly to a neighbor who set up some dark lights and strobe lights that he usually rents out for parties). I took on the role of a dead person who the crazy scientist (Mo) was operating on. My guts spilling out were made of red food dye, oatmeal and spaggeti - and after the three hours of kids coming through and having this goop just sitting on my stomach, I was very much ready for a nice shower. Nate was a gravedigger, Cara a mummy, and Seamus some sort of goblin-like character that everyone joked looked like a tomato. The kids were very scared and enjoyed their little american candies we gave them at the end (some came through many times just to get more).

Sunday itself was more tranquilo as we went to the Dia Familiar for Cristo Rey (basically the big school celebration). There was good food, some good dances (the best were definitely the traditional ones, instead of the moderny Hip Hop types), good company (we went with Martin, Edith, Carmen Rosa and ran into many friends there), and good relaxation.

Monday - and All Saints´Day - was another impactful cultural experience for me. I went to accompany Martin and Edith to the cementary to visit Jason´s grave. Usually, it has been a very peaceful trip for me personally, but on Monday, the cementary had almost a party feel to it as many people (especially those from the highlands) were visiting and celebrating the life of those in their family who have passed on. Many of these groups (some of which had upwards of twenty people) were putting flowers, manna (a sweet kind of popped corn), a special kind of ¨dead¨ bread, and other trinkets on the grave while drinking and chatting around it. I think it sort of disturbed Martin and Edith because for them it interrupted the tranquility and sacredness of the cementary, but I at least enjoyed seeing what it was like and being able to be there with them.

Now, in less than one week we have the seven new volunteers descending on Tacna (a little gringo invasion) and life is planning and preparing for that. It will be another great time and really make this next month and a half fly by as I say goodbye to Tacna and its wonderful people.

October Vacations

So, although my vacation week started off a bit slowly (though not in a bad way, I very much enjoy just spending time with my host family and friends here in Peru), it ended with a whole lot of movement.

On Thursday, I took a trip with Seamus and my host mother up one region to Moquegua to visit its capital. Known for its avocado and hot sun, we spent a wonderful day walking around, taking silly photos, talking about why we are volunteers, and enjoying the good craziness that is my host mother Carmen Rosa.






If you do not believe me, check out her poses in each picture and then keep in mind that at least three random dance parties broke out during the day.
















After that, we returned to find our house flooded (though a neighbor had seen water pouring out under the door and had turned it off from outside) because a tube going into the bathroom sink had broken. The cleanup left Seamus and I quite tired and with little ganas the next day for an adventure. But, in the afternoon, after calling the son of the local store owner and finding out that he was planning to make the pilgrimage to a statue of the Virgen Mary called Virgen de las Peñas in northern Chile, we got ourselves up for the challenge.

After a couple hour bus ride, crossing the border, visiting the Walmart-like megastore and being astounded in Arica, then hiking for over three hours in the dark, we finally arrived. Though the trip was tough, the walk was especially enjoyable for a number of reasons. For one, it was neat having to find our way along with hundreds of other Chileans in the dark (it was like a giant treasure hunt). I was also really blown away to arrive at 3 in the morning to dancing and music and lots of energy in the little town (which is not accessible by road and celebrates - soberly, since alcohol is forbidden - for three days straight). Lastly, people of all shapes, sizes, and kinds made the trek; along the way, we saw elderly people, overweight people, babies being carried, and even a group of what our friend called ¨chico chicas¨- flamboyantly gay Chileans. These other photos show where we slept for four hours after waiting an hour and a half to saludar the Virgen when we arrived (a must), the church with the dancing at 4 something in the morning - including the people sleeping on the floor, and Seamus and Nate waiting on the line and partaking in a snack of Chocolate Cheerios that we had been saving for a special occasion every since my mom brought them down. Sorry that the photo is sideways.

Anyway, it was a hectic (we only spent 10 hours in the town, and so in the matter of around 36 hours did the whole bus trip there, the hike up, slept for four or five hours and then came all the way back to Tacna) last few days of vacation, as it will be a hectic and fun-filled October, November, December and January. But life is good - so who am I to make any complaints?
Also, bought my ticket and February 4th will be the end of the wild ride as I set foot on American soil once again. Woohoo.

Elections

So it turned out that all of the guys tryng to run for reelection lost out. Our new mayor of Tacna was symbolized by a little drop of water (but all dressed up as superman). Ironically, since Sunday, water has been cut up in the center. Everyone claims its the ousted mayor´s revenge, which is funny and possibly true. It seems like democracy worked out quite well for the most part, as there is little discussion of any disenfranchisement or issues here with the voting. The lines were very long and slow, but if that is the worst there is, then one cannot complain too much, right?

It was actually a really exciting experience to be with some Peruvians as the polls closed at 4 pm. The radio kept playing dramatic sound effects and throbbing the word ¨flash¨ over and over again. They did that for about 45 minutes with lots of filler talk before finally anouncing the results. I don´t know if the results mean any particularly drastic in terms of changes for Tacna, but one of the neat developments on a national scale is that a woman won the mayor race in Lima, and she is the first female mayor in Peruvian history. I will miss some of the loud music, parades and general excitement a bit, but I hope the fact that Fidel Carita won here in Tacna means that we will still get to see the gotita (little water drop), all over the place.

A Short Update

As the month of Halloween, the unofficial start of the Christmas season down here (I only say this because the delicious dessert of panetone - like a good fruitcake - has made its reappearance on store shelves) begins, there are many updates to bring. Right now, we have a week of vacation between our third and fourth bimester, which I am taking advantage of to visit many people, reconnect a bit with the school I taught at last year, and share some photos with you all.




So, firstly, in the middle of September, I went on a camping trip with Seamus, Maureen, and my homeroom of 27 16-year-old kids. It actually ended up being a whole lot of fun, though it was a little rough because we were sleeping in our sleeping bags on cement and trying to get that many kids to do stuff is always a bit of a struggle. I am putting up a couple photos so you all can see what the town was like (its called Locumba, and was actually celebrating its feast day, when lots of people do a walking pilgrimmage there to touch the state of Nuestro Señor de Locumba. That is why there are lots of tents). There are shots of how the kids cooked our food (on an open fire on the side of a street) and how we slept too.
One funny moment - at least in retrospect - was when the students pulled out boxing gloves on Friday night. As soon as I told them I was going to take them away, they started whinning and complaining and trying to tell me that I was sucking all the fun out of their campamento. They also made the argument that they would just end up fighting anyway and hurt each other much worse (that reason almost made me laugh). But outside of that, there were very little problems and some of the kids came up like champions (one was out in a blazing sun for three hours frying all the chicken over an open fire on Saturday for lunch). I think it really is those outside of class moments, especially when certain ones really shine, that hold the most meaning for me with the kids.















This shot is of the Cubas family, who I have become really close with over me time here. One weekend, they took me to the bosque - basically like a big municipal park (and really the only one in Tacna) - to see the zoo and pasear (which basically means hang out). They are very special to me and it will certainly be very hard for me to say goodbye to them in December, though I know we will remain in touch.











As part of the celebration of Dia de la Juventud (youth day), my school did a kite contest with elementary school kids that I was able to judge. It was a blast to see all the families out there in the sandy pampa trying to get their kites up. Some really suceeded, though a lot of the best ones ended up losing the kite as it flew off into the wild blue yonder.

Physical Education in Peru

So, right now, all the rage in our school is the drill routines that all the classes of secondary and 4th, 5th, and 6th grade of primary have been preparing. Drill is basically rhythmic gymnastics and is absolutely hilarious to watch: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoYr-p1Y67A. I don´t mean to mock it at all (especially considering I do step areobics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmqZ_okcTfM with Edith - the mother of Jason, the student who died last year - at least once a week), but it is quite funny to watch.

I think the best part of it is how into the kids get. Their final performance on Monday will pretty much determine their physical education grade, but whole classes of students have been out on the streets of Habitat for hours after school practicing. It really has taken over here at school.

On a wider scope, the October 3rd elections have really come to dominate local discussions and local radio. Besides the flags and posters up all over the place, many of the campaign songs (simple remixes of all the current big hits) can be constantly heard and very often their are parades of the different canidates going through the center.

Elections here are very interesting - on the ballot, for example, they do not even put the canidates name, but simply their party´s symbol. These symbols range from a single letter to a number to a characterture of the canidate himself (the guy running for re-election as mayor of Tacna simply runs on his personality and so is known as the Gordito Simpaticon. He doesn´t really have any other platform than a subtle ¨you can´t help liking me, can you.¨ Check out his video, which has many shots of Tacna. Also, the big guy dancing in the background is the canidate: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=2cJBO8k3QOs).

As a volunteer and foreigner, I don´t take any stance or support any canidate, but it is a little disheartening to hear the way many Peruvians see their political system: as one of corruption, manipulation of the voting procedures, and the buying of elections. Additionally, there is not any stable political party system. One interesting point, however, is that everyone must vote (if you don´t, one of the ways that get you besides a fine is not allowing you to make any bank transactions). I haven´t decided yet if I feel like that is good to make voting obligatory, but I definitely feel that it has wide ranging effects, especially when there is such confusion with a plethora of canidates.

Any thoughts from those out there?

Tacna Day 2.0

This past Saturday was the 81st anniversary of Tacna´s reincorporation into Peru. Down here, each city gets together a big celebration for its day, and Tacna´s is especially intense considering its patriotism and civic pride. In both my years here, it has been a really enjoyable time to share with the people of this wonderful city.

This year, the festivities included a parade filled with dances and floats (my housemate Cara danced the traditional Saylla - she had almost roped me into doing it too, but it is an intense dance, so I stayed away from this one), an actuacion at school that had everything from kindergarden kids dressed as stuck-up, early 1900s folk to a procession with a big Peruvian flag to a marching contest (that my fourth year students were very upset to lose) to a sharing of traditional picante (made with cow´s stomach - not very appetizing, but the dish´s flavor is good), a Daddy Yankee concert (that I attended. Quite simply, it was a lot of fun, even though I am not a big reggaeton fan and they had separate entrances for males and females that meant I had to wait on line by myself for a long time), a parade down the main street with a humongous Peruvian flag (held only by women, since they were the ones during the years under Chile´s rule who celebrated in secret), and some more picante.

Then, as a community, we took a trip down to the beach for a four day retreat on social justice. It was a great chance to relax a bit, talk about issues of justice that we see (particularly the treatment of women in Peruvian society - though we did get into the different cultural and societal contexts that affect our views of such issues too, and how we have and use privilege as white, relatively wealthy Americans) and enjoy each other´s company.

Anyway, I´ve added some photos of the fun to give you all a little more of an idea of all the fun over the last week.

Cara is dancing in the back right of the group. This picture was also right before they grabbed me from the sidelines and pulled me out on the street to dance with them.

Though this kindergardener is a little odd in class (she will randomly scream nonsense), she was absolutely adorable dressed up for the actuacion. I had fun imagining that all the drama of the reincorporation into Peru really went down amongst 5 year olds dressed like this.

My tutoria of fourth years starting their march (very militaristic) for the contest.

The big Peruvian flag going down the main drag. It literally takes up the entire width of the street.

This is one of the ¨alfombras¨ that they make out of flowers and different materials on the morning of the parade. No one can walk over them until the flag passes down.

The Peruvian commandos who later paraded. Can you spot the camo one?

The community on retreat. Relaxed and renewed.

Funny Little Story

This past weekend I went to visit Vinañi again because I had not been out there in awhile. Though I went to the meeting for the youth group I worked with all last year and through the beginning of this one, only one of the kids actually showed up. Mostly, I chatted with the young nun who runs it, and she was very excited because she will be travelling to the United States. Specifically, she will be going to Manchester, though I found it quite funny that she had no idea which one (nor does she speak English).

As I was walking around out there, however, I passed by two kids working on building a house with their father. One of the defining aspects of life in Vinañi is that there is always construction and improvements happening. Although a very poor area, it is incredibly dynamic and every time I go it feels like it is growing and developing. I have never witnessed such a rapidly transition before.

Anyway, I thought I recognized the two children, but I was not a hundred percent sure. So, I sort of smiled at them and was going to just pass by. As I was walking right by them, however, I heard the older one whispering to his brother, ¨Es el profe.¨ The younger brother, in turn, responded, ¨No, no es el profe.¨ Maybe three or four times they went back and forth like that, arguing in hushed voices. As I was about ten yards past them, I couldn´t resist turning back and shouting at them, ¨Sí es el profe y buenos días chicos.¨ I turned around, smiling to myself, and heard the older one say ¨Ya ves¨ (basically, ¨You see¨). It immediately brightened my day and sent me off in good animo.

I love little moments like that.

Vacation Recap

As I mentioned before, vacations passed with some real excitement and great travels. I spent an incredible amount of time sitting in buses (probably around 60 hours total - not to mention the bus and train ride to and from Aguas Calientes at the foot of Machu Picchu), a lot of time drinking good coffee, hours having good conversations with Peruvian friends and with my mom, and ate a lot of good food. Here is more or less how vacation went down.

For the first few days, I organized my life, relaxed a bit, and generally just spent time with a lot of people here in Tacna. I visited the wonderful Cuba family - most of whom can be seen in the photo. They are simply wonderful, life-giving people who always make me feel like I am amongst extended family. Their two children, Jorge Luis (next to my mom) and Yessenia (third kid from the left), are absolutely wonderful and truly feel like my little cousins that I try to be a mentor to. Also during this time, we had the front of our house finished with a layer of cement by the local handy man, Capacute. It was fun to spend the day chatting with him and helping out a little bit (or as much as I could). The best part was how in the beginning he simply flung the cement willy-nilly against the wall (though this did lead to the jambing of our keyhole.

A few days later, I left for Arequipa, Peru´s second biggest city. I have visited there a number of times, and this was mostly a chance to get to visit my extended host family there and get out of Tacna a bit. I had a wonderful conversation with my host cousin, ate some good, Arequipeñan food, and got a campaign shirt from one of my host family members there who is running for office this October. His little symbol that you mark on the ballot is a smiling pepper (one of the great aspects about being here for the elections is seeing all the different symbols. Everyone pretty much has their own political party - except for APRA, which has been around for awhile and to which Alan Garcia, the president belongs. And each of these parties have an accompanying symbol that you mark on the election ballot. They range from a little tree, to a smiling water drop to a potato).

From there, I went on to Lima to meet up with my mom. I was in Lima early in the day, and so spent some time wandering around and then took a bus that took me all over Callao (Lima´s port) before reaching the airport. I have to say again how much I love the energy and movement of Lima, despite all its hecticness, traffic and crowds.

With my mom, we spent the night in Callao to be a bit more rested and then made our way down here to Tacna. Basically, I had to teach on Monday and wanted to show here my classes and Miguel Pro. Even though she woke up on Monday feeling a bit sick to the stomach, she gritted through it and we had a wonderful time especially in my primary classes as we sang songs, and played little games for the chocolate she brought down. Some of my students even made little cards for her that they gave to her at the end (very adorable even though, as I joked to my mom, that meant that they were not paying complete attention in class).

With my mother, I travelled again to Arequipa and then to Cusco. We only spent a few hours in the former, but that was enough time to have a meal overlooking the stunning Plaza de Armas, enjoy a good good cup of coffee and the accompanying conversation, and buy a little Ekeko doll for each other (it´s for good luck: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekeko).

Cusco was the main part of the trip and especially our two day adventure to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. But before we could even get there, we ran into a paro, or strike. Our bus simply stopped at about 4 in the morning and through the mist and fog, all I could see at the time was a line of stopped vehicles. As the hours passed, we came to find out that a bridge up ahead was being blocked and though the bus company assured us we would pass through in a few hours, there was no certainty and many people from other buses were getting off and walking.

My mom and I decided to wait it out and about 7:30ish, they finally told us that we were going to be let through, but that we would have to get off the bus and walk across the bridge before getting back on. The bus stewardess was very nervous, didn´t know what to tell us to do with our valuables and kept saying that sometimes they throw rocks and to be careful. Needless to say, this in turn worried me. But in the end, it was fine and they simply wrote some propaganda on the front of our bus and we made it through.

In Aguas Calientes itself, there was not much to do, but it was all worth it to get up to the top of Machu Picchu early the following morning and see the cloud cover move off and the sun rise. To me, that was the most spectacular moment of our trip up there, and you really felt a sense of something surreal or mystical. Later, the sun emerged, shining brightly and strong.

Machu Picchu is quite an incredible place, both for the architechture and history, and for its simp awe-inspiring views. Not to be missed, for sure.

Other than that, we spent most of our time in Cusco talking, enjoying the Obligo (bellybutton) of the World as it is called, and eating some good food. We stumbled upon a food festival with live music, sought out some falafels since I had a real hankering for one, and as I mentioned before, drank some good good coffee. My mom also sampled nata in the market on Sunday morning, a food that I had never heard of before down here in Tacna. Basically, they take the cream off the top of the fresh milk and spread it on bread (it sort of has the consistency of cottage cheese sort). It is all the breakfast rage up there in Cusco.

After saying goodbye to my mom in the airport, I took an overnight bus back to good old Tacna. I still taught my classes on Monday after arriving in the bus terminal at about 7:30 in the morning. Seeing my mom, visiting Peruvian friends, and enjoying this great country, however, left me with lots of energy and animo, and I plan to use that boost to take advantage of this second half of the year!

Back in Business

After a busy couple of weeks of being on vacation and covering most of the southern part of the country by bus (to Arequipa, to Lima, to Arequipa again, to Cusco and back to Tacna), I am finally back in the swing of things here at school. I will write a little recap of the travels, of seeing Macchu Picchu, of having my mom visit again, and how I feel looking ahead to my final months here, but for now I wanted to just make sure to let everyone know I am fine and back with lots of energy.

Also, I uploaded a number of photos with some captions to whet the appetite on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=13802227&v=info#!/album.php?id=9313&aid=2310124.

Unfortunately, that´s all for right now before my fingers freeze (its quite chilly - and definitely not Chile - here) and my classes start, but I promise more for later.

Time Flies When You´re Having Fun

The last month has simply blown by. Between hosting visitors (the wonderful group from University of San Fransisco, former Tacna volunteers Dermot Lynch and Brad Mills, a month-long volunteer from Santa Cruz), watching and endlessly discussing the World Cup (kudos to Uruguay and Sanchez - the played truly like they had their heart in winning, and the refereeing has been terrible), and going on retreat with the community to reflect on our spiritual lives, June and early July have been action packed.

I have gotten to spend some wonderful time with my collegues when we celebrated Dia del Maestro (which, as a teacher, was nice to have a day of teacher appreciation). We also had a mass in which Father Fred (who has been here in Tacna for over fifty years and done some amazing things, like found Miguel Pro along with the best school in the city, Cristo Rey) addressed some important words to us educators about giving our best for the kids and always striving for magis (or the more, the better).

In community, we recently were sent the game Apples to Apples and spent some time at the beach bonding over its wonderful silliness (its a game in which you have a number of random nouns and must match them to adjectives), while also reflecting on how we can be fishers of men. One session I particularly enjoyed involved drawing a boat to represent ourselves and then its net being composed of positive qualities about us that the other members of the community see within us. We also rewrote the beatitudes for ourselves - a great way to digest a really wonderful and positive text from the Bible.

Lastly, having ex-volunteers come visit has also reminded of the incredible life, energy, and openness of some of the Peruvians I have had the joy of getting to know. It has inspired me to refocus myself as I come to the halfway point of this school year on enjoying and developing those unique relationships. These friendships - that at times do feel like they become falial bonds - connect despite the cultural divide. And for me, personally, I am uplifted thinking that in a foreign country and missing the comforts of a washing machine, a super market, health food, etc, I can feel at home and that there are people who care for me and want to share with me simply because I am me.

World Cup Fever

So, I´ve been teaching all my classes the meaning of fever as I have clearly come down (along with a true case of throat nastiness) with some World Cup fever. It is very exciting to be in a place where all the kids and teachers are so excited that they find every little moment and way to watch what they can (I had some kids today during recess run into the room I was teaching and then hold a cord up in the air for 15 minutes - for some reason that made the TV work - to watch just a little of the Spain and Switzerland game).

I personally have been sacrificing sleep to get up at 5:30 to run before the early game and have made some grand and somewhat clever plans to work it into my own classes (especially since the next United States game will be during my fourth and fifth year class). These include having kids announce the game, do exercises using the past tense with passages about what has happened, and teaching the song Wavin the Flag (which I have also become addicted to). I saw one of the primary teachers I work with teaching about conflict resolution using a giant picture of Zidane´s headbutt from four yeard ago. Pure brilliance. Anyway, I am open to any and all ideas - I LOVE HELP - to incorporate this even more and spread my fever.

Oh, and I watched the entire game against England this past Saturday with a mixed group of American high school kids (a volunteer group from Arizona was down building a house), their host families, and our neighbors. It was so exciting to share that with everyone while eating lots of popcorn and canchita (basically popped corn kernels, but of the bigger, more solid type). The Peruvians have definitely taken on the United States to root for (despite my students jokes that Slovenia is going to win on Friday) and in turn, I have taken on Chile as a new team after being invited to wake up and breakfast at 6:30 this morning with our music teacher/pastoral director extrodinaire.

Go Team US!

Just Visiting

As the summer descends on the Northern Hemisphere, it means the start of cold and damp weather (not fun) and of all the different college and high school visitors (more fun) down here.

Next week, a delegation from the University of San Francisco will arrive to do different teaching through dance workshops as well as organizing the painting of a mural on the outside wall of the school. Two of the coordinators have already arrived. With them, today we are busy organizing the kids to do drawings of what service means to them and then we will also put up the primer coat of paint to have everything ready to go when the muralist arrives in town tomorrow.

Also next week, a high school group from a Jesuit school in Arizona will arrive to build a house out in the invasions on the outskirts of Habitat. They will be staying with families here in Habitat (who are very excited to recieve them) as part of their volunteer experience.

The plethora of gringo visitors is a wonderful boon and boost to us Jesuit volunteers down here. As I have mentioned before, being able to share this experience and just in general connect with people from our own cultural and with similar values helps us to step out of the every day routine in which one can sometimes become stuck. Whether it be discussing American politics, striking aspects of Peruvian society, or simply life plans, these visits definitely remind me both why I am here and to take advantage of this unique time in my life. Additionally, having some graduate school of education professors and students amongst us (the two coordinators that are currently here are professors) has offered some great new perspectives and ideas to apply to the classroom.

So, all in all, its an exciting time right now despite the coming onslaught of winter. Hope you all are enjoying your toasty days up there.

Peruvian Cultural Fun

While admist an impressive stretch of birthdays (Saturday was that of a 10-year-old student of mine from last year, Yessenia, who has an incredible and welcoming family; Sunday the lunch for our school psychologist, whose actual birthday is today; and yesterday we celebrated with an ex-JV volunteer who has been down here for awhile with her husband, J. P., who was a Peruvian volunteer a few years ago) a fun Peruvian cultural experience surprised me yesterday.

When I arrived at school, the fourth grade teacher came looking for me and began to ask me about my schedule. Uh, oh, I thought, she was going to ask me to take over her class today. I don´t mind helping out a collegue at all, but this particular class can be a bit movido (all over the place), especially when their regular teacher is out or their schedule is thrown for a loop. Any anxiety, however, was for naught, as she asked me if I wanted to be the judge for a contest.

I jumped at the opportunity - I love interacting and being involved with my students in non-teaching (or rather, non-class hour) activities. This particular contest turned out to be better than I could imagine as the teacher had done a contest with the class for Day of the Potato, which had come and gone this past Saturday with little fanfare in my life (too many birthdays, I guess).

When I arrived for the event just before lunch, I was stunned to see that each student (32 in total) had prepared a dish made in some way with potatoes. The culinary variety (almost assuredly prepared by the parents in probably 95% of the cases - one or two unintentionally funny students even mistakeningly said something along the lines of ¨my mother fried the potatoes¨ when we asked how they prepared it) included different types of pastel de papa http://imagenes.mailxmail.com/cursos/imagenes/5/3/pastel-de-carne-y-papas_24935_1_1.jpg, papa rellena http://peru-recipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/papa-rellena-stuffed-potato.jpg, causa https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqlnnJU4NMbw-fLQTu4qOJlxhNn3lea96vRaj0M2jvG2BtUeISpbPFIOP4-vXy94i7AgmoBnq4eX3_1LQ-7jLoS4iNAy-GX0X9R8wvMiGuU5wwWXg4hzXPxuIuHexxKZlTf1vkgy4g3Inf/s400/causa-peruvian-cuisine-01.jpg, and many more.

As the judge, I listened first to a short explanation of why the potato rocks as the nutritional base for any meal (so many varieties and so many vitamins!). Then I had to judge each student in three categories: presentation, exposition and flavor. I sampled each and every plate. Oh, to be a food critic! Though in all honest, I don´t have the palate for it and yesterday I think I gave almost everyone at least a 5 out of 7 in flavor because I was too happy and enjoying myself.

The two joint winners turned out to be the first and last dishes, which were a papa rellena prepared with much detail by the daughter of the school cook (hmmmmmm, surprise surprise) and a pastel de papa that went along with its rocotto relleno (which is one of my infrequently eaten, but favorite dishes down here....). Also, as more than half of life down here focuses on food (those Peruvians love their food and are quite proud of it as I have noted before), I of course went from judging this contest straight to lunch.

More Dancing Pictures

After getting involved with this dance group, we have now found ourselves ministars and have been invited (the group has been invited, I mean) to dance every weekend in this month. The nice plus side? Lot´s of good pictures and unforgettable memories. This past Saturday, we danced at a concert. So although people were not paying to see us, we preformed at a pay-to-enter event. Maybe the first time I have done that in my life.....

Even though it was at night and we are entering winter, Seamus and I were sweating like crazy.

We got to lead the way for our group and clear a path through the drunk concert goers, while stepping over bottles of beer on the ground. And even though we were not always coordinated, I think we did a darn good job.

This photo is from May 3rd, and the quality is low, but its the best shot of us dancing and in our full get-up.

Some Not-As-Exciting-As-I-Was-Hoping-Photos

Here are a few fun shots from last weekend´s dancing.






Here is a shot of the end of the mass for the Fiesta de las Cruces in the Cathedral. There were over a hundred crosses parading out.










The four of us friends dressed up before heading out to dance. Seamus and I are Mistis, while Cara and our friend Karina are Cholitas. The costumes were quite wild.







We had to wait for hours before dancing, so to handle the anxiety, Seamus and I played around a bit in our crazy costumes. By the way, the whole idea of our role in the dance was to be real high energy, scream a lot, and to coqutear (or flirt) with the crowd. If I haven´t made it clear yet, I had barrels of fun.

Wild Wild Week

Wow. Well, so, it is just after 8 in the morning on a Thursday morning and after not hearing the start of school bell, I went outside to see what was going on to find no students anywhere. Suddenly it dawned upon me that because of a 6.5 - that is right, 6.5 - magnitude earthquake last night, there would not be classes. (If you read Spanish, check out this website for news on the quake: http://www.correoperu.com.pe/correo/ciudad.php?txtEdi_id=6).

The quake last night was noticable and strong - we went running out of our house and power was knocked out - but I had no idea at the time that it was a 6.5. The epicenter was also just 60 miles away. Luckily there was no real damage and no injuries here in Habitat. The experience was thrilling in some ways and terrifying in others, but at least now I am glad to have a sense of what a real earthquake would be like and hopefully would know what to do.

The events of the last 12 hours are just part of what has been a bizarre and adreneline-filled week. It began on Saturday with Nate´s birthday, and then Sunday and Monday we danced morenada in the Fiesta de las Cruces (which was incredibly thrilling and wonderful and I will write more about this when I can post the pictures), and yesterday I found out that we actually won the dance contest on Monday night. Needless to say, it has been an exciting and fun time to be in Tacna, and I promise I will try to detail what the dancing was like when I get my camera back.

Outside the Classroom

One of my duties as a co-tutor (tutoria is best described, in Cara´s apt words, as a beefed-up homeroom/guidance counseling) is to visit the homes of the students. This aspect allows us to better get a sense of the student outside of the school building and to build a relationship and level of communication with the parents for any issues or concerns that arise.

This past weekend I visited the house of a student named Leonardo, who lives on a farm about 10 minutes or so away by bus. On a small side note, his family gave me about 4 kilos of grapes, which I have been eating quite greedily (and suffering the consequences in my belly) for four days now). Leonardo had spent his whole childhood attending Cristo Rey, the elite Jesuit school that is the best in Tacna, on scholarship. At the end of last year, he was asked to leave because of his academics. Over the first few months of this year, I have found him to me an incredible worker and have a spirit to want to suceed, but also to be incredibly nervous and struggle with making connections from practice exercises to other work. Leonardo clearly has some learning and even emotional issues, but the extent to which he suffers from these truly only poured out at the house visit.

As we were sitting in his chacra (farm) and talking with him and his parents, I was trying to broach the subject of how he has been adjusting to Miguel Pro, and so I asked Leonardo about what activities he was involved in at Cristo Rey. This opened the way to Leonardo pouring out about he feels like he has never followed through with what he has started in his life (whether it be an extra taller on making ceramics, helping with teaching catechesis classes, or graduating from Miguel Pro). Additionally, he expressed the disappointment and guilt that his mother had been pressuring on him since the end of last year. He described in detail his last encounters with the teachers who supported him and his few friends, mentioning over and over how he felt like he lied to them by saying he would see them next year and not admitting that he would not be returning.

The tutor who I work with, Lizbeth (who happens to be eight months pregnant, work in three different educational institutions - she works until 5:00 on Sundays!) handled the situation very well, both talking with the parents about how they need to be supportive and help him follow through with his dreams, while also making sure Leonardo felt that he needed to be responsible too for his grades and the path his life has gone down.

For me, this student particularly hits a nerve because he is such a lonely, but good person (and works so hard), but clearly has trouble communicating with others, processing information, managing tension and stress, and just generally handling daily interaction and life. I want the best for him and I want him to become a Jesuit dentist (his two dreams that he adamently told his mother he could accomplish together), but there are so many obstacles and so much that he struggles with.

Anyway, I have some ideas and have undertaken a mission to at the very least help boost Leonardo´s self image. With my compañero Nate at Cristo Rey, we are getting his ex-teachers and his friends from there to write little notes letting him know they still think about him, are not disappointed in him, and that they all want the best for him. In English class, I have noticed that he can apply a rubric or a chart to exercises relatively well, so I make him his own for each new grammatical theme we discuss. And lastly, I am going to try to help integrate him socially into the 4th years as best as I can by bringing him into my recess conversations with the students or including him on different committees or in different activities.

I hope too that maybe, at the least, bringing a little more warmth and interest to his life will lift his spirits a bit. We will see.

Just a Musing

As I sneak a few minutes of internet on the director´s computer (they finally put internet in the teacher´s lounge yesterday but then of course it stopped working), I hear the sounds of students marching outside as they prepare themselves to be policia escolar. Oh Peru.....

Holy Week

Possibly one of the biggest deals of the year, Holy Week came and went here in Tacna with a lot to do. Despite having Thursday and Friday as holidays, I feel like I did more and slept less last weekend than I have all year so far.

It all started last week with a Friday night reconciliation service and then an early Saturday morning hike to climb the nearby sand dune. It was a small pilgrimage of sorts, and here is the evidence (look how tired my homeroom students look at 3 in the morning. If only they were that calm in class.....):

Wednesday with our first volleyball game as Team Habitat Forever in the local tournament. And though it pains me to say it, we are horrible. With all of the neighborhood out en masse to watch, we certainly provided a lot of entertainment with our inability to set each other up and numerous shots to the face. Oh well.

Thursday I took a nice little trip with my goddaughter (I was the padrino of her first communion, so it`s not quite Godfather-like, though she insists on calling me Padrino all the time) and her mother to visit the nearby valley of Tarata. There we did some walking around and for me it was super special to see Leslie enjoy the outdoors and the change of scenery. She had never travelled outside of Tacna before, so it was very special for her. We also ate some delicious fruit and I bought lots of yummy manna - kind of like big, sweet popcorn.

Friday I went to my host family, and since we are in a super Catholic country, there is no meat to be found in the entire country on this day. We feasted on some fried rice with seafood and some fried calamari - all homemade in the house. Then I returned to Habitat for some Viacruces, or stations of the cross. Although it was not as intense as last year, it still involved some scenes of cruifixtion and some carrying around of a big cross (see photo).

Saturday night I participated in an all-night vigil with the kids of the youth group with whom I worked last year. I have not had a chance to work as much with them since it is out in the neighborhood where I taught, but it was great to share this special time with them. We went to the vigil mass and then had some reflections, watched Passion of the Christ, and had a little celebration for the Resurrection. I got very little sleep though, and was very exhausted all Sunday. Easter was a food-filled day as we invited the neighbors over for breakfast and chatting (see below), then I went to my host family`s for lunch and chatted some more, and then I came home to run (to make space in my belly) and nap before a community dinner of quinua risotto (very very delicious creation made possible by Cara).

So, all in all, very busy and very enjoyable - but what more can you ask out of life?

When Life Strikes

A few weekends ago, as I breakfasted with my host family (and was taking fire for being the chico light and choosing sleep over late night activities), some tough news arrived to the household. An uncle of the family--who was also the host father of a former volunteer and someone whose house I would visit once every month or so last year--had passed away. Though not particularly close with him, he was someone I had interacted with often since arriving down here and had even planned on visiting the week before he died (but had forgotten).
I don`t want to make it seem like all I thought about after this event was my own feelings and reactions (obviously, it was incredibly hard for the family and their emotional rollercoaster and attempts to process his death and burial was very moving), but I did feel particularly moved in ways that I had never experienced before.

One particularly odd moment of the day was when I found myself, dressed in a suit, with six other people in the back of a pickup truck, holding on by one finger for dear life, sweating because of the nervousness of preparing for reading a letter at the burial, and generally just emotionally overwhelmed as we made our way from the funeral mass up to the cemetary. I had been given the job of presenting and reading part of a letter from the volunteer who had been down here two years and become part of the family. My reading followed the family´s own discourse at the gravesite and I both felt incredibly sorrowful and out-of-place. I accomplished my task without any big mistakes and I do feel appreciative to be able to have done something for the family on that day, but I could not help but ask myself why I was there, with all the attention, and trying to do service to the incredible life of a man, who in contrast to the many friends and extended family there that day I barely knew. In retrospect, I believe that in some way it reflected even more on who he was (since he always opened his home and took in many at first ¨random¨ people to share and celebrate with).

Nevertheless, in my limited experience with death and the discomfort at times of being an outsider down here, I felt very torn at the time. If anything, those emotions speak more to my own doubts and my American culture; I don´t think there was a moment that anyone there felt that I would have been out of place. So many of the Peruvians we know have come to see us as one of the clan--and I feel incredibly blessed for that acceptance and inclusion. I myself have been inspired to write some heartfelt letters to my own host family, who is so giving, so joking, so inclusive, and just generally so happy to share with me. They will never replace those for whom I care and love in the States, but they have also made me feel a shared humanity across spaces of cultural and distance that I never had thought possible before.

On that note, happy Easter to all, and my you all pass it well, in good health, and in the good company of family and friends.