Hitting the Ground Running

So, it’s been a quiet week (NOT) in Buenos Aires de Santa Eulalia, Lima Peru, my new home town.

My living situation is more comfortable than I imagined. I live with a family of four. Jaime is more like my brother than Dad. (Coincidence that he shares my dear departed brother Jimmy’s name?). He teaches the Peruvian equivalent of Jr High and is easy going and full of joy. His wife, Deri, is more the mover and shaker in the family. She works as a nurse in Lima and has a 2 hour commute, with 12 hour shifts that rotate. So, I’m never really sure when she’ll be around. They have two kids: GuanCarlo, 19 is a student at university in Lima and is rarely home. His younger sister Mishell, is a full of spunk and obsessed with Korean techno music. She makes me laugh a lot. Across the street, live Jaime’s parents, Chrisanto and Estella, who run a “convenience” store on the first floor of their house.

Buena Vista sits high on the mountain, so I do a lot of step climbing. But unlike in the US, steps are NOT standardized – they come in all shapes and sizes and can be extremely steep. Yesterday, I had to do a project with Ted Shriver (grandson of PC founder), that involved going almost to the top to talk to a carpenter. His “shop” was open air. His table saw was an 8” blade set in a wooden table. His only other power tool was a planer, but he turns out BEAUTIFUL work.

The house is really well built and very spacious. My room is about 20x30 (huge) with two queen beds. I have my own bathroom next door – much like any bath in the state, but shower and cold water only, so only one faucet on the shower and sink. Water pressure is excellent, with potable (chlorinated) water coming from The Santa Eulalia River into treatment and storage tanks about 600 feet up the mountain (altitude is about 4,500ft). Still any drinking/cooking water is boiled. All water and drinks are served at room temp. NO ice, but still pretty civilized. There is  also another system of water for irrigation that comes straight from the river in open aqueducts.

LOTS of dogs. Almost every home has a dog or two on the roof – combination guard dog and doorbell. Sadly, they never come off the roof to run. Still, they have it better than the street dogs, who scavenge for food. My canine friends in the states don’t know how incredibly good they have it.

The weather is outstanding – low 70’s during the day and low 60’s at night – perfect sleeping weather. The skies are ALWAYS clear and sunny. Standing in the sun and not sweating is a good thing. It probably won’t rain the whole 3 months I’m here. The breeze is cool and sweet.

The food is simple, just the way I like it. Lots of fruit : bananas, Pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, apple, cherimoya. Rice , potatoes and quinoa (ancient Inca grain) are staples.

The Peace Corps training center is a former resort about 1.5 miles away.  There are several Peru 18ers nearby and we usually walk to “school” with our lunchboxes. A bus is only about 17 cents, but the walk is more enjoyable than the (over) packed bus. We do 4 hours of Spanish, which is INTENSE. Classes are small, four in mine, all water & sanitation guys (WATSAN) at the same skill level. The other 4 hours are either health related or technical WATSAN training. Lots of home work, so not much time to play. Though, I have sampled all the local beers and selected Cristal (Budweiser of Peru) as my favorite. A 650ml is about $1.

The Peru 18 group continues to impress and delight me – extraordinary energy, brilliance and heart. The cooperation is truly world-class. And great sense of clever humor. The only problem is that most of these youngsters have never seen the great movies of my generation, so I need to explain my frequent movie quotes.

This morning, I did my first “cultural exchange”, by showing Jaime and Deri how to make cole slaw. They liked it – at least they said they did. Also, did my first community service : a pick-up towing a generator was trying to turn around in the plaza and the driver had no idea how to maneuver. Traffic was all blocked up and no one else seemed willing to help. So, the gringo stepped in and directed the driver and he went merrily on his way. The ENTIRE time, the blocked traffic was blowing horns – as if that would speed things up. Horns are THE most important part of any vehicle around here. They are blown with great frequency and glee.

As well, I’ve done several small maintenance fixes, mostly just tightening and adjusting. We also found a large crack in the concrete above the part of the kitchen ceiling where the paint was peeling. We’ll see if sealing it solves the problem. Maintenance is not a high priority here, it would seem.

I may have made a small tactical error in fixing all this stuff for my family. It seems others in the family and nearby have things for me to look at……….

A word about transportation – virtually no one has a car, but there are hundreds of taxis, busses and (my personal favorite) tricycle cabs. The Trikes hold seat two in the back, but I’ve seen groups of 4 emerge. Taxis and busses flow in a constant stream and I never wait more than a minute for one. They will stop even if they appear full. Like Jello, there’s ALWAYS room for one more. The cost to go about 2 miles is 30 cents.

Mostly, though, we walk, which is an adventure unto itself. The houses are built to within 3 feet of the road and only about ½ have a “sidewalk”. There is no mindless stroll down these roads – you need to be alert. And I see why riding a bicycle would be suicide. Never take for granted the wide LEVEL and consistent sidewalks and steps that we enjoy in the US.

It’s Chrisanto’s birthday tonight and there is a big surprise party for him. In keeping with family tradition, I wrote my first poem in SPANISH !!

POR CRISANTO

Feliz cumpleaños a Don Crisanto

Tiene una vida como un santo

Un hombre amable y muy generoso

Con salud, amor y mente picoso

Aquí en Buenos Aires es como paraíso

Ojala con muchos cerveza, no caer en el piso

Deseo salud y muchos anos mas

Tu amigo Goyo y el Cuerpo de Paz

RGP –

Peru Septiembre 2011

And that’s all the news from Santa Eulalia, my home town. Where all the men drink beer, the women work hard and all the children want to live in Lima.

**** DISCLAIMER – All the opinions expressed above are my own and do not represent those of the Peace Corps or the US Government *
****

Perhaps I ended my weekly blog prematurely…..

We had a party at my house last night to celebrate the birthday of Jaime’s father Crisanto. And that’s putting it mildly. The afternoon was dedicated to preparation. I chopped several pounds of tomatoes (and sharpened a few knives) for an amazing “ahi”, which is like salsa on steroids. I had a sample and was tearing up big-time, to the amusement of my hosts. Putting up lights for the evening, we discovered short in the light plug, which exploded with an appropriate bang (kids, don’t play with 220v at home). I had to find a bad connection – with the help of my trusty multi-meter. Deri was cooking the entire time.

This was to be a surprise party and the plan was sound. They kept Crisanto  out until about 7:30. I was waiting out front, while about 20 of the Peace Corps gang and as many family members waited inside in the dark. My ploy was that there was a problem with the lights and I needed his help, since Jaime and Deri had gone out. He dutifully got his flashlight and tools and came to help, whereupon he was ambushed and the party began.

It started quietly enough, with folks talking and milling about. There was some music and polite dancing and some small glasses of a delicious home-made sangria. The back patio, which also doubles as the laundry area has an awesome view of the valley and the weather was absolutely perfect, as always. From a lower room, came a trickle of odd hats and balloons. A live band, consisting of 5 saxophones, a violin and an instrument that can was a cross between a harp and a cello – no, I’m NOT kidding. I’ll just say that Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass got nuthin’ on those boys, not that ANY of my group knew who he was. A case of Cristal beer added to the volume and intensity.

And then came the clowns. Two real clowns and a very well constructed female side-kick in neon green spandex. All were followed by a deluge of long, thin balloons, more odd hats, whistles, fake foam neckties and huge glasses amid a barrage of spray foam and confetti. The clowns proceeded to whip the patio into a frenzy of laughter, dance, whistle blowing and universal silly, passionate merriment. The Peruvian custom of “La Hora Loca” had begun. And it went on. And on. And on. There were comic lap dances and processions - even some regressions. Some of the shy flowers in the group, came to full bloom. Discretion dictates that I add only that what happens in LHL, stays in LHL. 

At one point, all the family members got up and made toast like speeches to Don Crisanto – whose behavior, by the way, was among the most raucous. I read my poem and led the PC Choir, which presented ‘Row,Row,Row Your Boat’ in 4 part harmony and ‘Happy Birthday’ in English. The merriment continued as we were served dinner of chicken, potatoes (of course) and the most excellent ahi. The PC troop left about 11:30, but the family stayed up. And up. And up. I went to bed about 1am, but the band was still playing. Last time I saw the time, it was about 3am. And the band was STILL playing. I never expected to have this much fun in the Peace Corps. Say what you want about “Third World” – these folks know how to throw a party.

Oh, and I did my first “load” of laundry – by hand. Long soak, followed by a good upper body workout with and wash-board and scrub brush, followed by two rinses. It’s actually quite revealing to see the volume of dirty water, which usually escapes invisibly down the drain. And to witness the progressively cleaner rinses. Open air drying is amazing. No ironing required, as clothes dry smooth and quickly in the Peruvian sun and low humidity. I was proud of the result. The irony is that I later discovered that the family has an automatic washer, but all agree that clothes come out much better using the Old School method. And, it’s another time for the family to be together and chat – which is nice.