Sunday, February 7, 2010
Mas Fotos
Pictures: (top) my host mother with her potato crop, (middle) most of my host family on our way back from fishing and visiting the lake, (bottom) group of community members walking back from the fields with a great view of my town in the distance
Letra a los Estudiantes en Los Estados Unidos
Besides aiming to promote sustainable development in developing countries around the world, an important aspect of the Peace Corps program is to encourage a friendship and a cultural exchange between Americans and other countries – the host country will learn about American culture through the PCV but also Americans will have the opportunity to learn about the host country’s culture. Clearly by living in Peru, I am learning a lot about Peruvian culture and I am also imparting some information to Americans reading this blog. However, there is also a program called “World Wise Schools Correspondence Match” where PCVs can volunteer to correspond with a class of students in the US inspiring inquisitive questions and answers about the country the PCV is working in. Conveniently, my father is a middle school science teacher and I am participating in this program with his class.
In my last letter response, I answered some great questions from the students and since it might be of interest to others, I thought I would post it in my blog:
Dear Students of Calkins Middle School,
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful winter break and I heard it was a white Christmas in Rochester this year. Mr. Cowen sent me a list of your questions and I will try to answer a few of them in this letter:
What foods do people eat?
First of all, people in my community eat 4 meals: “desayuno” (breakfast), “almuerzo” (lunch), “lunch” (late afternoon snack) and “cena” (dinner). “Desayuno” and “lunch” are light meals that always include bread and tea/coffee/other hot beverage, although sometimes people also eat fresh cheese or fried egg (“sunny-side up”) with their bread. The large meal is during “almuerzo” (unlike the US where the largest meal is usually at dinnertime) and it usually consists of both “sopa” (soup) and “segundo” (main plate). “Cena” is lighter, typically leftovers from “almuerzo” or sometimes nothing.
The traditional foods are dictated by what types of food is available (and as I alluded to in my first letter, the types of food available is dictated by climate – what crops can be cultivated in agriculture and which animals can survive in the high altitude and cold temperature). The main crop is potato (as well as a tubercular vegetable called “maca”) and the primary livestock are sheep, cows and camelids (llama, alpaca, vicuña) although guinea pigs, pigs and chicken are also raised in small scale by households. For larger meals, my community eats A LOT of potatoes, rice and red meat (usually sheep or pig). The traditional dishes are usually different combinations of these foods. Because of the cold weather, soups are popular and typically contain red meat and potatoes although sometimes various types of vegetables, noodles and/or grains. “Pachamanca” is a unique traditional dish (that is DELICIOUS) that can consist of up to 5 different types of meat (sheep, pig, chicken, guinea pig, rabbit…or on occasion even llama!), “papas” (white potato), “camote” (sweet potato), “habas” (type of green bean/pea) and ¨humitas¨(looks like a tamale but is actually sweet in flavor) served with tasty sauces. However, many times it is prepared with only some of the ingredients more commonly just white potato and sheep or pig meat. Although it can be prepared in other ways, the traditional method is in the ground using alfalfa and covering in the dirt to cook. “Cuy” (guinea pig) are raised in many households but unlike the pets in the US, they are raised with the intention of eating them. In Junín, “cuy” is usually prepared with a peanut sauce. At every celebration, there are large “tortas” (cakes) – sponge cake with icing.
While all cooked food is prepared with fresh ingredients, in the small stores in my community there is an abundance of packaged junk food (candy/cookies/soda). With the exception of larger cities, there are no grocery stores (I miss Wegmans!) in most areas of Peru.
What sports do people play?
The three main sports are “futbol”, “voleibol” and “pelotaris.” “Futbol” or soccer is played on a large grass field or more commonly on a multipurpose cement court (“lozo deportivo”) which has small soccer goals but also basketball hoops. I have yet to see a real basketball in my community, although I think on rare occasion kids shoot soccer balls like a basketball. “Voleibol” (abbreviated “Vole”) or volleyball is very popular with the women. I am very impressed by their skills and intensity. “Pelotaris”, played by men in the community, is basically handball. There is a wall with a horizontal line and the players must hit the ball above this line and only allow the ball to bounce on the ground once. It looks very painful though because the ball is hard (usually they remove the outer part of tennis balls so it doesn’t bounce as much) and they hit it very hard with bare hands…It is one sport that I don’t have a desire to try.
Have you climbed the Andes mountains?
Not exactly. I live in an unusual plateau in the Andes Mountains right next to Lake Junín/Chinchaycocha (I actually help work in the National Park of Lake Junin – Reserva Nacional de Junin), so the area is flat with only a few hills. Other regions of the Andes have better “climbing” sites.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes…or as much as I know right now! Everyone in my community speaks Spanish, but they refer to it as “Castellano” to differentiate from the Spanish spoken in Spain – there are some small differences in pronunciation and word use. The older people in my community speak (or at least understand) Quechua, which is an indigenous language in the Andes mountain range. Quechua is not taught in school and overtime is rarely spoken within households; as a result, the younger generation does not speak nor understand Quechua and it appears to be slowly dying out. Since no one speaks English (aside from the one English teacher who knows limited conversational English), I am forced to learn Spanish quickly. My success as a volunteer depends on it, but also it is crucial for my social sanity.
Navidad in Peru
In light of the holiday season, I thought I would add something about the Christmas traditions in Peru. Unlike Rochester, NY or most parts of the US, my community is not religiously diverse. Nearly all of the community members are Catholic or Evangelical (I would say everyone, but I am not completely sure). As a result Christmas is a community celebration, whereas in the US it is more centered around family. Starting the 23rd, Christmas music was playing in the central plaza: that day the mayor of the district of Junin came to distribute small toys to all of the children, along with Paneton (a sweet bread that resembles Challah and is filled with raisings and little pieces of fruity gummies) which is traditionally eaten with hot chocolate on Christmas and during the month of December; the 24th the mayor of my town did the same and we prepared a huge pot of hot chocolate for everyone in the community. The big celebration of Christmas is at midnight (since it is believed that Jesus was born then) and there are fireworks, exchanges of “Feliz Navidad” (Merry Christmas) and opening of presents. The 25th during the day is very relaxed spending time with family and community members and there is a huge feast at lunchtime. My feast included a soup with vegetables and red meat, potatoes with an “aji” (hot pepper) seasoned oven cooked chicken (not normally prepared here), and rice with “cuy” in a peanut sauce; although I have heard that turkey is also a traditional food served at Christmas. Paneton and hot chocolate was my breakfast. I am assuming this is a little different from your holiday meals!
I look forward to more of your questions!
Take care,
Lauren
In my last letter response, I answered some great questions from the students and since it might be of interest to others, I thought I would post it in my blog:
Dear Students of Calkins Middle School,
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful winter break and I heard it was a white Christmas in Rochester this year. Mr. Cowen sent me a list of your questions and I will try to answer a few of them in this letter:
What foods do people eat?
First of all, people in my community eat 4 meals: “desayuno” (breakfast), “almuerzo” (lunch), “lunch” (late afternoon snack) and “cena” (dinner). “Desayuno” and “lunch” are light meals that always include bread and tea/coffee/other hot beverage, although sometimes people also eat fresh cheese or fried egg (“sunny-side up”) with their bread. The large meal is during “almuerzo” (unlike the US where the largest meal is usually at dinnertime) and it usually consists of both “sopa” (soup) and “segundo” (main plate). “Cena” is lighter, typically leftovers from “almuerzo” or sometimes nothing.
The traditional foods are dictated by what types of food is available (and as I alluded to in my first letter, the types of food available is dictated by climate – what crops can be cultivated in agriculture and which animals can survive in the high altitude and cold temperature). The main crop is potato (as well as a tubercular vegetable called “maca”) and the primary livestock are sheep, cows and camelids (llama, alpaca, vicuña) although guinea pigs, pigs and chicken are also raised in small scale by households. For larger meals, my community eats A LOT of potatoes, rice and red meat (usually sheep or pig). The traditional dishes are usually different combinations of these foods. Because of the cold weather, soups are popular and typically contain red meat and potatoes although sometimes various types of vegetables, noodles and/or grains. “Pachamanca” is a unique traditional dish (that is DELICIOUS) that can consist of up to 5 different types of meat (sheep, pig, chicken, guinea pig, rabbit…or on occasion even llama!), “papas” (white potato), “camote” (sweet potato), “habas” (type of green bean/pea) and ¨humitas¨(looks like a tamale but is actually sweet in flavor) served with tasty sauces. However, many times it is prepared with only some of the ingredients more commonly just white potato and sheep or pig meat. Although it can be prepared in other ways, the traditional method is in the ground using alfalfa and covering in the dirt to cook. “Cuy” (guinea pig) are raised in many households but unlike the pets in the US, they are raised with the intention of eating them. In Junín, “cuy” is usually prepared with a peanut sauce. At every celebration, there are large “tortas” (cakes) – sponge cake with icing.
While all cooked food is prepared with fresh ingredients, in the small stores in my community there is an abundance of packaged junk food (candy/cookies/soda). With the exception of larger cities, there are no grocery stores (I miss Wegmans!) in most areas of Peru.
What sports do people play?
The three main sports are “futbol”, “voleibol” and “pelotaris.” “Futbol” or soccer is played on a large grass field or more commonly on a multipurpose cement court (“lozo deportivo”) which has small soccer goals but also basketball hoops. I have yet to see a real basketball in my community, although I think on rare occasion kids shoot soccer balls like a basketball. “Voleibol” (abbreviated “Vole”) or volleyball is very popular with the women. I am very impressed by their skills and intensity. “Pelotaris”, played by men in the community, is basically handball. There is a wall with a horizontal line and the players must hit the ball above this line and only allow the ball to bounce on the ground once. It looks very painful though because the ball is hard (usually they remove the outer part of tennis balls so it doesn’t bounce as much) and they hit it very hard with bare hands…It is one sport that I don’t have a desire to try.
Have you climbed the Andes mountains?
Not exactly. I live in an unusual plateau in the Andes Mountains right next to Lake Junín/Chinchaycocha (I actually help work in the National Park of Lake Junin – Reserva Nacional de Junin), so the area is flat with only a few hills. Other regions of the Andes have better “climbing” sites.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes…or as much as I know right now! Everyone in my community speaks Spanish, but they refer to it as “Castellano” to differentiate from the Spanish spoken in Spain – there are some small differences in pronunciation and word use. The older people in my community speak (or at least understand) Quechua, which is an indigenous language in the Andes mountain range. Quechua is not taught in school and overtime is rarely spoken within households; as a result, the younger generation does not speak nor understand Quechua and it appears to be slowly dying out. Since no one speaks English (aside from the one English teacher who knows limited conversational English), I am forced to learn Spanish quickly. My success as a volunteer depends on it, but also it is crucial for my social sanity.
Navidad in Peru
In light of the holiday season, I thought I would add something about the Christmas traditions in Peru. Unlike Rochester, NY or most parts of the US, my community is not religiously diverse. Nearly all of the community members are Catholic or Evangelical (I would say everyone, but I am not completely sure). As a result Christmas is a community celebration, whereas in the US it is more centered around family. Starting the 23rd, Christmas music was playing in the central plaza: that day the mayor of the district of Junin came to distribute small toys to all of the children, along with Paneton (a sweet bread that resembles Challah and is filled with raisings and little pieces of fruity gummies) which is traditionally eaten with hot chocolate on Christmas and during the month of December; the 24th the mayor of my town did the same and we prepared a huge pot of hot chocolate for everyone in the community. The big celebration of Christmas is at midnight (since it is believed that Jesus was born then) and there are fireworks, exchanges of “Feliz Navidad” (Merry Christmas) and opening of presents. The 25th during the day is very relaxed spending time with family and community members and there is a huge feast at lunchtime. My feast included a soup with vegetables and red meat, potatoes with an “aji” (hot pepper) seasoned oven cooked chicken (not normally prepared here), and rice with “cuy” in a peanut sauce; although I have heard that turkey is also a traditional food served at Christmas. Paneton and hot chocolate was my breakfast. I am assuming this is a little different from your holiday meals!
I look forward to more of your questions!
Take care,
Lauren
Día Mundial de los Humedales – 2 de Febrero
February 2nd is the national holiday celebrating the wetlands. Since I live in a notable RAMSAR wetlands site by Lake Chinchaycocha, SERNANP and the Municipality of Junín organized activities for the first week of February and the environmental PCVs helped promote them in our communities. February 1st was a “Paseo por las Orillas del Lago” (field trip to visit lake); children who attended learned about bird watching with an opportunity to try out binoculars and participated in games with environmental education themes. Unfortunately, the site is not really accessible by public transportation and last minute organization meant children from many communities in the region did not attend – including my community…room for improvement next year! “Caminata por la Conservación del Lago Chinchaycocha” (walk for the conservation of the lake) was February 2nd and included a choice of two locations for the walk – one in the department of Junín (southern part of the lake) and the other in the department of Pasco (northern part of the lake). My community participated in the 5K walk to the city plaza of Junín, proudly carrying our town’s banner and beautiful signs recycled from last year. This year introduced the 1st Annual “Concurso de Reciclaje” (Recycling Contest); participants competed for the most creative reutilization of solid waste (bottles, cans, paper, wrappers, etc) and to encourage environmental awareness they were also required to include a brief explanation of why their reutilization of materials is important for the environment. Each community had a preliminary competition on Friday January 29th and the winners were invited to compete in the finals in the city of Junín on February 3rd. Participants from my community won 3rd place for the adult age group!! The concluding event on February 6th was the “Festival Ecoturistico y Campeonato Deportivo” (festival and sports competition) which included an opportunity to finally enter the lake on a boat/raft as well a variety of sports competitions between the communities. Unfortunately the weather was terrible making it less enjoyable than it could have been.
All in all a successful celebration for 2010!
Hasta luego,
Lauren
All in all a successful celebration for 2010!
Hasta luego,
Lauren
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Y Entonces Todas Se Fueron – Vacaciones en Mi Comunidad
So I have been in my community for about a month, finally feel comfortable with my huge extended host family of 17 people and as I have written in the previous post I have promising project ideas…feeling good right?
Well not completely. I had been warned before coming to site that the first few months will be extremely challenging – rainy season, school vacation just about to begin and people are busy working in the fields or even leaving for jobs in bigger cities – all things that make it hard to meet people and find people to work with.
But it really didn’t hit me until the week that the school year officially ended. The supportive teachers I met all commute from the different towns where they live and all leave during vacations. Meaning the push for summer school is complicated by no teacher support and the closing of the school buildings and resources. Also, my small town does not have many work opportunities – the people are either busy in the fields with their livestock and agriculture from early morning until 6pm or they leave for cities where they can find other jobs (in fact 3 of the men in my extended host family work in the mines and are only home a few days every 2 weeks). Without much warning, I discover two host nephew and niece will be returning to Huancayo for work during the next 2 months of school vacation, my host sister and her baby will be leaving for 1 month to spend time with her husband in Huancayo and another host nephew will be taking summer classes in Huancayo meaning his mother (or my host sister and community counterpart set up by Peace Corps) will also be leaving for the next 2 months!
That’s when it hit me that these challenges are very much present in my site; for the next 2 months I will not have the support of 5 people I know the best including my tentative community counterpart (as of now that is probably about 1/4 of the people I have close relationships and/or currently work with outside of the school system), no school resources and trouble tracking down hardworking community members.
I guess that just leaves more motivation to focus on my community diagnostic and meeting more people...
Hasta Luego,
Lauren
Well not completely. I had been warned before coming to site that the first few months will be extremely challenging – rainy season, school vacation just about to begin and people are busy working in the fields or even leaving for jobs in bigger cities – all things that make it hard to meet people and find people to work with.
But it really didn’t hit me until the week that the school year officially ended. The supportive teachers I met all commute from the different towns where they live and all leave during vacations. Meaning the push for summer school is complicated by no teacher support and the closing of the school buildings and resources. Also, my small town does not have many work opportunities – the people are either busy in the fields with their livestock and agriculture from early morning until 6pm or they leave for cities where they can find other jobs (in fact 3 of the men in my extended host family work in the mines and are only home a few days every 2 weeks). Without much warning, I discover two host nephew and niece will be returning to Huancayo for work during the next 2 months of school vacation, my host sister and her baby will be leaving for 1 month to spend time with her husband in Huancayo and another host nephew will be taking summer classes in Huancayo meaning his mother (or my host sister and community counterpart set up by Peace Corps) will also be leaving for the next 2 months!
That’s when it hit me that these challenges are very much present in my site; for the next 2 months I will not have the support of 5 people I know the best including my tentative community counterpart (as of now that is probably about 1/4 of the people I have close relationships and/or currently work with outside of the school system), no school resources and trouble tracking down hardworking community members.
I guess that just leaves more motivation to focus on my community diagnostic and meeting more people...
Hasta Luego,
Lauren
Proyectos… ¡Pero Necesito Hacer Mi Diagnostico Primero!
A little over one month in my site and I feel like I have learned a lot…and still have a lot to learn! Through my conversations and observations, I already have many ideas for projects and also have some pressure to start certain projects ASAP, and in some respect quicker than I feel prepared for.
With Peace Corps, all volunteers are required to conduct a Community Diagnostic during the first 3 months of our service before diving into projects. This includes a thorough investigation of the important community organizations and leaders, current situation in relation to our program goals (for Community Based Environmental Management: environmental awareness, solid waste management and views on forestation), community map with resources and important landmarks, among other diagnostic tools. The Community Diagnostic provides a way for us to integrate and get to know our community – something that it is important to our approach of volunteering in international development. Getting to know the community first is crucial – you build relationships and trust within the community as well as take the time to observe the current situation from an outsider’s perspective while also listening to the community’s desires and views on their own development. That way the projects I work on are the projects they are interested in and with their trust I will hopefully get the support I need to successfully facilitate sustainable development projects.
That being said, it is hard to wait 3 months to begin tangible volunteer work. Even though I have 2 full years for my projects, it is difficult to feel like I am not officially starting any projects and the pressure from the community (and SERNANP) adds to that feeling that “I am not doing anything.” But it is challenging to begin projects, or fully articulate what I am currently doing for that matter, when my language skills are still slowly improving. For example, as much as I inform my community that my program goals are environmental projects, I will forever be approached to teach English. After visiting the schools, many children come up to me and ask when I am coming back to teach English. The other day, I was talking to one of the PCVs who also works in Junín and he told me he met someone in my community when he was taking the bus who informed him that I was going to be teaching English here…
On the other positive side, I also have pressures to start environmentally orientated projects. My community has its own greenhouse where one of the women grows vegetables and herbs to sell in the community and use the earnings to support the main livestock/farm work. They are eager for me to come and make suggestions for types of vegetables, collection of seeds and advice on organization and possible expansion of the greenhouse harvest. That is a very exciting project, because I view it as an opportunity to encourage nutrition in the community as well as support the business aspect. I spoke with the mayor of my community who is very supportive and understanding of my aims as an Environmental PCV. He is excited to start a recycling campaign having already researched a place in which we can sell recycled items and informed me that the community already formed a “Plan de Desarrollo Integral” (Development Plan) which he would like assistance in updating for the next 10 years…perfect considering I will be working on something similar for my Community Diagnostic! It also provides me a great basis for developing household surveys as data collection included a very thorough social-economic household survey along with community maps and brainstorm of identified current community problems…well as current as 2001. The park guards from SERNANP are also pushing forward Peace Corps’ suggestion of organizing “vacaciones útiles” (summer school) as a way to jump into the environmental education goal even though the school year finishes in December.
Now time to concentrate on meeting and learning more about my community. “Vamos a ver” what that will bring….
Hasta Luego,
Lauren
With Peace Corps, all volunteers are required to conduct a Community Diagnostic during the first 3 months of our service before diving into projects. This includes a thorough investigation of the important community organizations and leaders, current situation in relation to our program goals (for Community Based Environmental Management: environmental awareness, solid waste management and views on forestation), community map with resources and important landmarks, among other diagnostic tools. The Community Diagnostic provides a way for us to integrate and get to know our community – something that it is important to our approach of volunteering in international development. Getting to know the community first is crucial – you build relationships and trust within the community as well as take the time to observe the current situation from an outsider’s perspective while also listening to the community’s desires and views on their own development. That way the projects I work on are the projects they are interested in and with their trust I will hopefully get the support I need to successfully facilitate sustainable development projects.
That being said, it is hard to wait 3 months to begin tangible volunteer work. Even though I have 2 full years for my projects, it is difficult to feel like I am not officially starting any projects and the pressure from the community (and SERNANP) adds to that feeling that “I am not doing anything.” But it is challenging to begin projects, or fully articulate what I am currently doing for that matter, when my language skills are still slowly improving. For example, as much as I inform my community that my program goals are environmental projects, I will forever be approached to teach English. After visiting the schools, many children come up to me and ask when I am coming back to teach English. The other day, I was talking to one of the PCVs who also works in Junín and he told me he met someone in my community when he was taking the bus who informed him that I was going to be teaching English here…
On the other positive side, I also have pressures to start environmentally orientated projects. My community has its own greenhouse where one of the women grows vegetables and herbs to sell in the community and use the earnings to support the main livestock/farm work. They are eager for me to come and make suggestions for types of vegetables, collection of seeds and advice on organization and possible expansion of the greenhouse harvest. That is a very exciting project, because I view it as an opportunity to encourage nutrition in the community as well as support the business aspect. I spoke with the mayor of my community who is very supportive and understanding of my aims as an Environmental PCV. He is excited to start a recycling campaign having already researched a place in which we can sell recycled items and informed me that the community already formed a “Plan de Desarrollo Integral” (Development Plan) which he would like assistance in updating for the next 10 years…perfect considering I will be working on something similar for my Community Diagnostic! It also provides me a great basis for developing household surveys as data collection included a very thorough social-economic household survey along with community maps and brainstorm of identified current community problems…well as current as 2001. The park guards from SERNANP are also pushing forward Peace Corps’ suggestion of organizing “vacaciones útiles” (summer school) as a way to jump into the environmental education goal even though the school year finishes in December.
Now time to concentrate on meeting and learning more about my community. “Vamos a ver” what that will bring….
Hasta Luego,
Lauren
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