Health Fair

I visited the largest Christ in the world - 1m taller than Rio, but not the view

Handwashing booth at the Health Fair

Student nurses came to see the Tippy-Tap

I had a booth at the town’s Health Fair this week. I went with my only health-related forte : Hand-Washing and Tippy-Taps. Being the only Gringo presenter is good for attracting traffic and interest. I played a goofy quiz game, got bunches of kids to wash their hands, singing “Happy Birthday” to mark the proper time of wash, helped kids make their own Tippy-Taps and posed for a rash of photos. It was a good time. I may have even gotten on the Lima news with the Director of EsSalud, who speaks much better English than my Spanish. The booth next to me was a bunch of cosmetology students, who insisted I let them cut my hair. I’m not sure if the giggling helped or not, but it turned out OK – my cheapest Peruvian cut yet.

Elsewhere at the Fair, nurses and doctors were doing all kinds of exams, x-rays, dental work and immunizations. Kids were dancing with a clown and a very bad lady singer and even worse band performed. The Health Center did a really great job of handling the crowd and it looked like everyone who came got served in 4 hours. I only wish health care in the US worked as smoothly, though lack of education here is the root of many health problems. If the enthusiasm of this crowd is an indicator, our upcoming programs for HIV / STD / teen pregnancy should be welcome.

The week included “Dia de Trabajo” (Labor Day) here in Peru. As with most Peruvian holidays, it began with some heavy drinking the night before. While we PCVs are encouraged to “integrate” into and participate in the culture, I draw the line here. Fernando “rolled-in” about 5am, just as I was getting up. I took the day to bus up to the Big Lime and purchase some tickets for myself and Angel, one of my socios. In the US, I’d just go online or to a travel agency. But here, my only option was to physically go to the bus station.

On the way home, I decided to stop and see the giant statue of Christ, which is visible from the Pan American Hwy. Getting there was another matter – it required two different combis and a long climb. Not much of a tourist destination – no gift shop. The statue is said to be a replica of the Christ that sits above Rio, but is 7 M taller (and 1 M taller than the Christ in Poland). It seemed pretty crude to me and surely the view from the Rio statue is superior. This one is surrounded by ghettos on 2 sides and a sea of communication antennas on the third, though the ocean can be seen in the distance. All-in-all, not so impressive, other than for sheer mass.

Next stop was lunch in the sweet little resort town of Cerro Azul, with some of the other nearby PCVs. It’s always a treat to get together with other PCVs and share experiences, ideas and some English. Though my Spanish is getting pretty fluid, there is still a certain tension when I speak and listen. I really feel English relaxing. The next day brought a visit from another PCV from Ica to see the biodigester with one of her socios.

Great shades of Smokey and the Bandit – I just saw what appeared to be a black TransAm roar down the PanAm Hwy. It really stood out since it was all shiny and new. I can only imagine it was some rich kid from Lima, speeding down to the family beach house in upscale Paracas, just south of here.

Yet another yummy fruit is in season here. This time, it’s cherimoya, which is simply one of the most delicious fruits on the planet. It tastes like……well, a cherimoya. Think banana, strawberry, pineapple, maybe even a hint of peach. It’s a complex and unique flavor that seems to change depending on how long and where it sits on your tongue. Kinda pretty, too. Looks like another of my favored fruits, guanabana, which is probably a cousin. A native of the Andes.

The masons in San Luis have an ad-hoc co-op, which serves them well. They all share a storage yard on the north end of town, where is stored all manner of boards for making concrete forms, rebar, bricks, blocks a big keg of nails and wire. The deal is that they all use whatever they need and then replace it when they’re done. Fernando was chewing out one of the younger members for cutting up one of the long boards. Wood is at a premium and very expensive here, especially the long boards. Apparently, he should have returned to get pieces that were already cut, but was too lazy. He got chewed real good. Fernando gots him a temper.

Oh Good Grief – Margarita has decided that she needs a break from all her “hard work” as Mom    (NOT). She’s gone off to visit friends for 3 weeks. At least she hired a baby-sitter, and the gal does seem to be able to cook real food, so at least the kids will be eating better. I was originally feeling really pissed about her departure, but now I’m thinking maybe the kids are better off. Victor hasn’t even bothered to come home in 2 weeks. Geez.

Mandarin orange harvest in Canete is in full swing. Lots of folks here in town stop whatever they’re doing to work at the big packing plant for some good extra pay – minimum age is 14. And they go 24/7 at the Arona plant. The benefit for me is that I’ve discovered they sell “rejects” at the ridiculous price of 2kg for 1 sole (US$0.17/lb). The marvelous irony is that they “rechezar” the perfectly ripe and utterly sumptuous fruit, which has no chance of making it to market before going bad. I have NEVER had a really tree-ripened tangerine before and I’m gonna love eating rejects for the next month or so.

There are so many things that Americans take for granted : endless safe water, electricity, sewers, roads, private cars, etc. Add one more – paper products. For my hand-washing booth at the Health Fair this week, I went looking for paper towels for kids to finish with. I wandered and was mis-directed all over the market, before finally finding an anemic roll of the stuff that fills partial aisles in any US supermarket, with a plethora of choices. It doesn’t end there. TP here is usually single ply and not very smooth. And not everyone uses it due to cost. Napkins are also single ply and tend to disintegrate in the hand. Americans probably waste more napkins from drive-thrus than Peruvians will ever use in their lives. But let’s not call it deprived – how about environmentally responsible ??

An interesting phenomenon here is the shop or store as the front room of the house. Most every shop owner lives where they work, either above or behind the store. And they are totally fine with knocking on the door, even when the shop is closed – something that we Americans would not even contemplate. There is often more than one “business” running out of the same space. Across the street, they run a flower shop and beer hall in the front room. At my house, the front room is a small school supply “store”, open only on demand. My favorite tienda is run by Paulina, who is often in the back cooking. She also does tailoring and bakes wonderful cakes. Sad that US zoning laws generally prohibit this home/store combination. It certainly makes sense, since the owners can get household chores done when not serving customers and saves on wasteful and gas-consuming commutes. This was a common practice in the US past. Why did we stop ??