Chasing Pigs

Goyo chases pigs back to pen with trusty broom

Last of my Cocinas is built

Another satisfied customer - Felicita

A biol sample from biodigester for Sanjay

Peruvians make a big deal of birthdays. It seems no matter how modest a families means, there are always funds for a birthday party – or a party of any kind, for that matter. Camila’s 9^th was no exception. Balloons and sheets of fabric covered the walls. She and her friends played endless rounds of “musical chairs”. Most of the music was either in English or Korean. Both are popular here – I have no idea why – especially when played with FULL bass and LOUD. Even at 8 and 9, the young ladies copy the dance moves pretty well. Margarita made an over-the-top elaborate Styrofoam board with much glitter and plastic décor. Sugar was served in great abundance and in about every conceivable form. I was kept busy answering all manner of questions about Estados Unidos – nobody here calls the US “America”. When I overheard one of the girls tell Camila “Your Gringo is very tall and smart”, I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Though, it is clear that having a Gringo live at your house is held in high esteem.

My sister Darcy sent two books on George W Carver, the “peanut” inventor – in both English and Spanish. Camila likes to read out-loud to her younger brothers. And she did. For most of the next day, beginning at dawn. She especially enjoys “reading” English. Though she doesn’t know most of the words, she’ll stop and translate to her rapt audience when she does know one. Her pronunciations of English are often hysterical and point out what a totally illogical language English is. Then again, I’ve gotten more than a few chuckles when I mangle some Spanish words. Darcy also sent a big bubble wand, which was pressed into service. Thanks to Senor Goog-lay, I discovered that a good bubble solution is just hand soap, water and either sugar syrup or glycerin – the former being more available. We made some whoppers, which elicited great squeals of delight.

On the other side of life, I live right next to the cemetery entrance. And see a plethora of funeral processions. These are a bit like the New Orleans style – lots of VERY slow walking with a band playing – only the bands are awful and there are LOTS of public tears and wailing. I’ve attended just one of these events, which is one more than I care to. The idea of putting a dead body in a box, carrying it around town and then sealing it in a crypt baffles me. Some say I have no reverence for the dead. It’s just that I prefer to save my reverence for the living. I wonder how many of the hundreds of “mourners” who attend these grim parades spent time appreciating the deceased while they were living? Or brought them flowers they could actually enjoy? Well, there will be plenty of beer and Pisco at the reception. Maybe that’s reason enough to attend.

Well. Down off the soap-box and back to work….

Finally finished the last of the Cocinas improved cook stoves. Felicita was delighted as we fired it up right after finishing. Her son, Manuel was a better than average “helper”. He actually wound up doing most of the work, after we finished the brick firebox and should be able to re-create them for others. He perked right up when I told him that the going rate around here is 200-250 soles, only 100 soles of which is materials. While I’m not in the Small Business Development program, I see this as the best way to make the project sustainable. I aim for locals to be building these stoves and biodigesters and solar powered stuff long after I’m gone.

Another in the “Only in the Peace Corps” dept : As I pulled up to Usevio’s farm to deliver labels for the Biol he hopes to sell (more on that later), he threw me a broom and said I needed to help him catch the two female pigs who had escaped their pen. Turns out, pigs – unlike cats – are pretty easy to herd, and after considerable squealing and grunting (by them, not us), we had them back in piggy jail PDQ. What was interesting is that the three fat boys were all up on the sty wall, apparently cheering the girls on. At least, that’s how it sounded. I am grateful beyond words to the Great Piggy Gods for not having to even attempt a manual capture. Unlike greased pigs at the State Fair, these porkers are perpetually covered in their own shit and the smell was revolting. But, all ended well and the pigs went back to making ever more raw materials for the biodigester. Although, the next morning, I found a painful pulled groin muscle was the price for a spirited chase over uneven ground.

Earlier, I had donned my sales & promotion hat and visited a few of the worm farms out on the Pan Am Hwy. Big business here, as worm castings “humus” is very popular with the organic crowd. After last weeks eye-opening visit with a Biol vendor and using farmers, it seemed appropriate to sell Biol to the same customer base as the humus producers. They liked the idea, though one fellow noted that he used to sell Biol, but nobody knew how to use it. Hopefully, that can be remedied with some informational flyers and a “Biol for sale here” sign. Anyway, now we need to bottle some of it up, label it and get it to them – on Usevio’s donkey cart – I’m looking forward to that trip.

On other fronts, it’s been a great week in the Grants Dept : I was delighted to learn that my Solar Pump project has been approved !! This means that 5-6 families will no longer hand-carry water from a contaminated well, but will have it pumped right to a secure storage tank at the house. Water will be better quality – though still not drinkable without treatment – and lots of it for bathing and cleaning. More importantly, I’m hoping that when folks see the solar panels, they will come up with any number of other uses for the power.

AND, the HIV/STD/Teen Pregnancy prevention project was approved, as well ! Our team made all the last minute changes to get this one done. It will be the first comprehensive program of its kind here in San Luis. We’ll be teaching teens and training teachers. Gloria and Esther are excited about the 10 part Pasos Adelante program developed by Peace Corps Volunteers here in Peru.

More revisions – hopefully the last - to the Kids Parks project sent off. My Socio, Angel has been great to work with and an enormous help. He’s full of optimism, good humor and seems to know everyone. He’s not one of the Socios (community partners) that Peace Corps assigned to me, but sometimes you just have to find your own…..And moving forward with the huge milk producer “Gloria” on funding the Eco-Bano rehab project – just a few t’s left to cross. They are excited about all the good PR they will get and loved my suggestion to put a Gloria sticker on each Bano we re-do. They also wanted to know if they could send down a representative with a photo crew. Photo ops at no extra charge.

In the midst of all that funding fun, I got to teach a Business Development class about Operation Plans, as guest Gringo profesore. These teens are all hoping to start their own businesses, which is exciting. Mostly, I just told them about my own experiences with my Thermalbar thermometer – invention, production, packaging, sales, promotion, etc. My plan was to then take one of their plans and work on it, but their questions just kept coming. Afterward they said that they enjoyed some “real world” information, instead of the usual hypothetical stuff. I’ve mostly been avoiding teaching classes. I don’t see it as sustainable, unless you are teaching teachers. I especially don’t get teaching English, which is a popular project among PCVs. But, this was good – the kids are all there after school and really WANT to learn. That kind of crowd, I can handle. And it was fun remembering all the adventures I had starting that company some 30 years ago. (see FB “Note” : Thermalbar)

An RPCV gal, Xiah, who is studying environmental contamination from mines for her PhD at Columbia Univ, is coming to visit next week. It seems that the abandoned gold and copper mine just north of town showed up on an aerial scan as a “hot spot” for possible lead contamination, and she wants to get some samples. Fortunately, Fernando knows the caretaker there to get us in. If the tailings are contaminated – what to do with that soil? I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we cross it.

A few traffic notes: In all of San Luis, there are zero traffic lights and even fewer traffic signs. And even less traffic accidents. Think about this. Do we REALLY need a sign at EVERY intersection, telling us to stop ??  Or how fast to drive ?? Isn’t common sense, courtesy, good judgment and fear of injury or death enough to ensure traffic safety ?? Seems to work quite well here. I wonder how many billions of dollars are saved by not investing in all the signage and signal infrastructure. Some informational signs would be nice though – the only semblance of that here are KM markers on the few paved roads. Lights do exist in the cities – even San Vicente has them, though they seem to be completely ignored unless a cop (or two) is present at each signal intersection. They don’t seem to mind “J” walkers at all. Most of these signals have a VERY short yellow and rely instead on a “count-down” light, which displays the number seconds until the light will change – an eminently more useful indicator than our yellow system. Additionally, I note a distinct lack of road-kill here, compared to the large number found on roads in Florida or CA. Are dead animals removed from the road faster, are there less animals or are Peruvian critters just smarter ?? You be the judge. And finally, a trivia question : How many passengers can you fit in a standard Peruvian combi ?  Answer: (always) one more.