I've been traveling...

Time has been flying by here in Perú. I’ve been busy with my work, traveling to meetings, and project development training sessions with some members of my community. Everything has been going very well, although the traveling is tiring (often 8 to 12 hours on a bus at a time). Now I’m back in Tomas for at least 2 weeks before I head to the coast for another meeting, and I’m excited to take advantage of this time in my community to really get moving on my projects.
A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks, but here are some of the highlights. Some of them are quite interesting, others not so much. But nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Last regional meeting on the coast:
Each month I head down from the mountains to the coast to attend a regional meeting with all the voluteers in the area. These are important to not only cover important business, but also to get refreshed by spending some time with other volunteers. But our May meeting brought a few little surprises.
The first, is that the coast (winter in the Southern Hemisphere), which was once a hot desert, is now a cloudy, dreary, cool place. It kind of takes the fun out of going. The other surprise, is that the only bus company that travels from the coast to my region of Yauyos changed it schedule, and no longer goes to Yauyos on Mondays. While trying to buy tickets and being confused about the new schedule change, I pointed out to the desk attendant that the schedule on the wall clearly says Mondays it goes to Yauyos…apparently there is no such thing as a false advertising law in Perú.

Training sessions with the Park Guards of the Reserva Paisajística Nor Yauyos Cochas:
So I work with park guards of the Landscape Reserve within which I live. At the end of each month there are 2 days of training for the Park Guards, and this month I was asked to give a session on Env. Ed. The park guards are all from within the Reserva, so even though they are park guards their env. ed is about the same as every other person who lives here…which isn’t much. I decided to give a talk on Global Climate Change, because that term gets used a lot, in a lot of interesting situations.
The talk was going well, with about half the guards sleeping and the other half listening intently and asking questions. After I finished talked and asked for a few more questions, things got a little interesting.
Questions where being asked about every environmental subject I could think of. From pollution spreading from a mining town 6 hours away, about effects climate change has on our water, and my favorite, when I was asked about acid rain but my spanish failed me and I thought the question was about Asian rains. (“Asia” and “ácida” are very similar in pronunciation). I had a good laugh about it later, although for some reason the Peruvians didn’t think it was that funny. Maybe they just expect me to make language mistakes?

And the big shebang, traveling to the city of Chiclayo for Project Development training with a group of park guards and all the other Environmental Volunteers:
This training, called PDM, is a Peace Corps run training session, and it’s a chance to develop projects with people you work with. Chiclayo, though, is about a 24 hour journey from Tomas, so the 4 day training was really an 8 day trip. The training was fine, although working with 3 park guards to write a project proposal is quite a difficult task. Until now I’ve taken for granted all the group work I did as a student in the U.S., but I realized that if you’ve never worked with a group on a project, things move frustratingly slow. In the end, we developed a good project to manage the garbage at every Guard Post in the Reserva. So I hope we can actually implement it.
Our last day of training we went with the park guards to National Protected Forest, Bosque Nacional Pomac. This is an incredible place. It is a dry forest of algarroba trees, which are similar to Mesquite trees in the Southwest U.S. The area looks like a desert, but it is covered in green trees. The trees survive with a 25 meter tap root (that’s really deep) and they grow during the rains that come every 10 years with El Niño. There are also pyramids from an ancient society, the Sican, which ended about 700 years ago. It was neat, to say the least.

That is quite the lengthy blog update, so thanks to those who read the whole thing! Now something for your viewing pleasure.

The group of park guards with PC volunteers with a giant Algorroba tree in the background.

The dry forest, with a pyramid in the background.

This is what i look like now...incase you forget during the last 9 months.

A traditional Sicán dress, along with all the park guards and PC volunteers.

A completely random picture, of a night i made BBQ beef and mashed potatoes with my friend and co-worker, Cate.

Construction complete of a micro landfill with the 9th graders.

Just getting landfill construction underway.

Census Time…and call me coach!

Recently I was asked to help with a biodiversity census within the Reserva Paisajística Nor Yauyos Cochas (the landscape reserve I live in). A team of biologists came from Lima to count plants, insects, and identify new species within the Reserva. This census involved traveling to the upper regions of a few districts, and focused on Queñal forests, an endangered Andean tree.

My job throughout most of this was to count plants of a certain species within a certain quadrant, and to help the Limeños carry their stuff up and down the mountains. It was a little funny and ironic that the foreigner was the one carrying the equipment, and the Peruvians were the ones having problems with the altitude, but I guess that’s what happens after five and a half months of acclimation in the mountains. The counting plants isn’t too fun, but it was fun to look for different species of plants and to see many new parts of the Reserve within which I live. Also I tasted and learned about many medicinal plants, and I even hiked to about 5,000 meters above sea level. Overall, a fun experience that took me to many places no gringo has gone before!

In other Yauyos news, one of my new activities is helping to coach the high school soccer team. In July there is a tournament in which every high school of the area participates to take home a trophy, and especially bragging rights. It may seem funny that a gringo is the one coaching soccer in a Latin country, but it turns out there are a lot of basic skills that I can help with as the “Técnico Americano”.

My main role as coach is to improve the fitness aspect of the team. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday we are up and running at 5:30 a.m (a time I did NOT choose). It is still dark at this hour, but the boys get up and running almost right on time. We run for about 45 minutes and then my “expertise” comes into play. We stretch. Stretching is something that many Tomasinos are unaware of. We are learning the importance and correct techniques, as a team, and the kids enjoy it. Then we do push-ups and sit-ups. It is hilarious to listen to the boys yell and complain about the workout, although afterward they tell me how fun it was. I hope that our fitness and strength training will give Tomas the edge in the July tourney, because it would be fun to take home the championship.

Life continues to move quickly (and sometimes productively) here in Tomas. I’ve been in Perú more than 8 months now, and I don’t know where the time is going…

And now, a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Flowers of a Colle tree, an endangered species that is native to this part of the Andes.

My Park Guard friend Marisol. Being a Park Guard is a full time job, so you take advantage and sleep anytime you can, including in the back of a VERY bumpy pickup ride.

Measuring Colle trees. These trees are endangered and are tough to grow. These giants must be 200 years old (seriously, these are old)

The gelatin like substance of the Potaka plant. It is medicinal, and supposedly helps the liver. Not much flavor, so I recommend that next time you're eating Potaka you add sugar.

A grove of Potaka, with the biologists. As is custom, everyone is sporting their vests.

In a Queñual Forest, with a biologist and two park guards. Notice that I also have a vest. It is from SERNANP, or the Servicio Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (park service). Both practical, and sporty. Certainly a trend i'll try and bring back to the States.

Off to the Races...

Upon entering Tomas from the East, there is a large arch that is made up of two large boots and topped with a horse being ridden by a jockey. When first arriving I wondered why the quaint little town of Tomas had such items on their welcome arch, but soon it all became clear to me. So, without further adieu I would like to welcome you all to the festival that is Tomas, the Carrera de Caballos, or Horse Races.

Every year the first weekend of May is a celebration in Tomas. This festival involves a Futblito (6 on 6 soccer on a basketball court sized cement field) tournament, a full field soccer tournament, a volleyball tournament, and on Sunday culminates with horse races. I had heard of these tournaments months ago when asking why there was a horse on our welcome arch, but finally the time came to experience it for myself.

Friday morning, May 1^st started a little different than most days. There were no classes because all the teachers had gone to Huancayo (a big city about 3 ½ hours away) the day before to collect their monthly paychecks (as is custom for the last day of any month). Usually when the there are no classes the people head out to their animals, but this Friday was different. Tomas was full of hustle and bustle, including the arrivals of many Tomasinos from Lima and Huancayo. Despite the arrivals of everyone, the tourneys didn’t start until the usual Peruvian hour, which is a few hours after the scheduled time. Oh yeah, and we had to wait for the Cock Fight tournament before we could play soccer. (Don’t worry, they stop the fights if they get too out of hand, so roosters don’t get too beat up. Although I still found it pretty distasteful)

I played with the Magisterio, or the teachers of Tomas. I usually end up on their team because I work with them a lot and they’re some of my best friends. Unfortunately, we don’t win, as is our usual, but it was fun nonetheless.

Saturday morning saw the arrival of Brad, Sarah and Cate, the 3 other volunteers I’m clustered with in the Yauyos region (and the only volunteers within 8 hours). We ate some Pachamanca (alpaca meat cooked on hot rocks, all buried underground), then in the afternoon came the big event of the day, the soccer tournament.

As a member of the Community of Tomas, it was only right that I play for one of the two teams my town had. I ended up playing with Oriente Andino, a team whose player base is a large family with many brothers and a few cousins from Tomas. I got to play forward, and when I score the first goal of the game (off of a crossed ball that I just had to put in the net) the crowd went wild. Being the only gringo that lives in Tomas and still the newest member of the community, the crowd thinks it is a pretty big deal that I play soccer. It was quite the moment. We ended up getting second in the tournament, although it would have been nice to win and get that Bull that was the first place prize.

Sunday, though, was the main event. After a breakfast of pancakes (which turned out great, even though it was our first time making pancakes in Peru), we (me and the other volunteers) made the 20 minute trek to the small pasture of Siria. We arrived and the band was already playing (the same music as the previous 2 days), and we waited for the races to begin. The races are about a quarter mile, and they run 2 horses at a time. It is kind of scary to watch, because most riders are young kids without any kind of safety equipment, and these horses are going fast. We watched the races with a group of health post workers (our good friends), and, of course, ate more Alpaca meat Pachamanca.

It was a fun weekend that helped me to really understand why we have a horse on top of our welcome arch…I’m still a little unsure about the boots, but I’ve got 18 ½ months to figure that out.

The Archway entering Tomas. Nice boots, nice horse.

The Band. All your favorite Huayno Classics! That's my good friend Luis giving the thumbs up at bass drum.

Myself, Sarah, former Tomas Doctor Brigette, Cate, and Brad with a little pre-race fun.

Sarah, herself a horseback rider, taking one of my neighbor's horses for a little trot. Fortunately, she didn't race (because that is scary!)

EARTH DAY!!!

So April is quickly coming to an end, which means I’ll soon have completed 5 months here in Tomas. Time is going fast, and I’m enjoying my time here. Since my last update I’ve gone to the jungle (Holy Week) and been working a lot in the schools. Today, though, is a very special day. Since 1970, April 22nd has been recognized as Earth Day, and being an environmental volunteer it was the perfect chance to do something big here in Tomas.
Yesterday and today we had workshops with all three levels of schools in Tomas, Kindergarten, Elementary, and High School. Workshops involved activities such as drawings, discussions, High Schoolers watching part of the BBC series Plant Earth, and each grade/student making an environmental awareness sign for the main even, the pasacalles.
Pasacalles, literally meaning “street passing”, was our big event that brought all three schools and the teachers into the community. Each student or sometimes group of students had a sign about some environmental issue, and we paraded around Tomas for a little over 30 minutes. The event included many (unplanned) chants such as, “Queremos agua limpia!” (meaning, “We want clean water!”), and part of the high school band played as we walked. The event culminated with all students and many community members in the Plaza for a few short speeches.
One of these speeches, as it turns out, was given by me. I was unaware of this before the event started, but as Professor Fredy announced to the crowd to give a round of applause for our friend Jared, I had to think quick about what to say. It is one thing to give an impromptu speech in front of a small group, but it is another to give an impromptu speech in from of the good majority of a town…and in Spanish. The situation was made a little more difficult being that I had to follow two teachers who had already said all the most important things about Earth Day. Professor Fredy even went on a rant about the mines contaminating our river. It was quite the act to follow.
I ended up thanking the kids for their participation and challenging everyone to talk about what Earth Day means with their families and neighbors. I also tried to be encouraging by saying that we can overcome the environmental problems that we have in Tomas. I think my brief message was well received, I just hope that I didn’t say anything with exceptionally poor grammar or the wrong words to make me look dumb. If I did, oh well, it was a new experience.
Earth Day is an important day, and it does have a lot of importance here in Tomas. With all the commotion we had with the Pasacalles, people will be talking about this event for weeks. They might even talk about how “Ya-red” (that’s me, in Spanish) gave a speech. Hopefully it can be a springboard into action here in Tomas. The day was a success, which I hope we can continue into the future.

Kindergarten. Some of my favorite students in all of Tomas. It is hilarious when they try and say my name.

Second grade, nicely in line, followed by the masses of older kids.

This little guy sure was excited abuot not contaminating the environment!

Very creative Earth Day wear...quite the hat.

My quintessential PC experience...

So I’ve been in Peru with the Peace Corps for seven months now, but just yesterday I had that moment when I thought to myself, “this is it, you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer now.”

I was at my towns alpaca farm for a community work day to shear about 100 alpacas. Twice a year they shear the herd, one half at a time. I’ve never helped at or even seen a herd of anything get sheared, and I was in for quite the adventure.

The day started off with a 6:15 breakfast of instant coffee mixed with Matchka, a delicious powdery mix of different grains that they eat in the mountains when there isn’t any bread. The quick breakfast allowed me to have a few more minutes of sleep before getting in the truck for a 2 hours climb up poor mountain roads to 4,600 meters above sea level and our 600 alpacas. When we arrived, there was still snow on the ground from the night before, although it always melts once the sun gets high enough. We then eat a breakfast of Mote, which is a hearty soup made from corn, onion, parsley, and alpaca meat.

After breakfast, there was a short discussion/meeting about what to do with the alpaca wool, to hold it or sell it now, because the market price for alpaca is about 1/3 of the price from a year ago. I’m still not sure what decision was made. After the discussion I watch as everyone starts getting ready for work. This entails chewing coca leaves (yes, the same leaves used to make cocaine, but this form is the legal form and only a mild stimulant (again, I only watch, not participate in this)), smoking cigarettes, and drinking caña, a disgusting hard liquor. This preparation takes about one hour, but I’m used to it by now because every community work event starts in the same manner.

After everyone is ready, then bring the alpacas into the shed were the shearing will take place. The alpacas resist this, and it is pretty funny to watch as a group of men are literally hitting and carrying alpacas through the gate. Once inside, a group of boys bring the alpacas to groups of 3 men with large scissors, who tie down the alpaca and in little more than 5 minutes what came in looking like a large alpaca will look like a weak, naked little animal. The alpacas scream throughout this whole process, even though shearing doesn’t hurt them. With about 10 shearing stations and 200 alpacas in the shed, it is quite a madhouse of commotion.

My job throughout all this was to paint a big red mark on the back of each alpaca after they had been sheared to mark that they got sheared in April, since only half the herd is sheared then. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, as I was always on the lookout for the next alpaca to be released, because if I waited too long I had to chase the alpaca into the herd and mark it before it got too far away. The shearers would yell, “pintura!, pintura!” and that meant I had about 10 seconds to mark the alpacas before it was released. It was an exciting job.

After we finished with the shearing and a lunch that was prepared for us, we followed the annual tradition and had a small 6 on 6 soccer tournament. This is a great idea, although it turns out that playing soccer at an elevation over 14,500 feet is a little more difficult than normal. We played for a few hours then got back in the truck for the 1 hour 40 minute descent back to Tomas.

While playing soccer, I looked around and realized my surroundings. There were mountains, alpacas, and a group of Peruvians that though nothing of it that I was playing soccer with them. That was when I realized that this is my Peace Corps experience. These people, none of whom look like me, all thought it normal that I would participate. They treat me like a community member, they don’t call me gringo, but rather by my name, and they know me on a personal level. It was a great realization that doesn’t just happen to everyone. It’s the moments like that that make this job amazing.

Aplacas before being herded into the shed.

An alpaca being sheared.

This shows how thick the wool is, and how tiny the body is.

Rolling up the wool from one alpaca.

This shows the big red spot I marked on every newly sheared alpaca.

Work Happens!

So it has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. I had my 3 month reconnect with all of the volunteers from my training group at the wonderful, though slightly dangerous, Northern beach town of Pacasmayo. We had 3 days of meetings, presentations about our sites and work, and some more training sessions over various topics. It was really refreshing to talk to the other volunteers and to learn that even though I may have felt like I wasn’t accomplishing much during my first 3 months, I’m in the same spot as most other volunteers. So things are going well.

Since returning from reconnect and a wonderful but brief 4 day vacation with my friend Heather (see pictures below!), things in Tomas have been going really well. School is back in full force, which means there are more people than ever in Tomas (well, at least during the weekdays). I’ve observed a few classes and even taught my first English class (it was a surprise 30 minute class, for which I hadn’t prepared anything ahead of time, but it went fine). I’ve helped construct a multi-family micro landfill, started a compost pile, and worked with our nursery.

Then, I received a visit from my boss, the associate director of Peace Corps Peru, and a Director of Programming from the Peace Corps office in Washington D.C. It was a fun visit and I proudly showed Tomas and the work we’ve been doing to all three.

I’m beginning to teach more English and starting with Environmental Education. In addition, I’ve got a busy month of meetings and planning to start a garbage/recycling program in Tomas. It is an exciting time to be a volunteer in Tomas, and I have really high hopes of coninuted successes in the months to come.

On a side note, 4 months ago today I officially swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer, so that means 20 months of service to go. Time sure is going fast.

Humbolt Penguins at the Islas Ballestas

The sunset at Cerro Azul

Islas Ballestas: Covered with birds and therefore rich, bird poo fertilizer.

A somewhat eccentric Peruvian playing his Cajon for a few soles. He yelled a lot.

Heather and I in Huacachina, a desert oasis

Snadboarding...no big deal.

The dune buggy we rode in: loud, fast, and fun.

The micro-landfill for a few families that my host dad and i constructed. Also, the inagural trash being responsible thrown away!!

The nursery in Tomas. There are currently two beds of Eucalyptus and a spot for a compost pile.

My first Yauyos Wedding

Hey everyone,
So February has past and as of March 2nd I've completed 3 whole months of living in Tomas. The time is going fast. It hasn't always been easy but each day is better and I really enjoy the People of Tomas. Work is getting underway, with projects that even include making a school used micro-landfill and starting the collection of recyclables on the school level. People are back in Tomas after the 2 1/2 months in either Lima, Huancayo, or at their farms at the higher altitudes. Tomas has a very different feel now with so many more people, but that is a welcomed change.
On February 27th I went to my first wedding in Tomas. It was a civil union, meaning there was no church, priest, or even much of a ceremony. The ceremony was held in the upper level of the municipality building. After a 2 minute talk by a member of the municipality and another 2 minutes of vows, we had a toast and the celebration began.
We began by toasting with wine; very very sweet, sugary wine (a Peruvian favorite, although i have a different opinion). After/during this toasting all of the parents, godparents, and local authorities said a few words about the couple. We then ate Pachamanca, which consists of meat (in Tomas almost always alpaca), potatoes, sweet potatoes, avas (a large bean in a pod) sometimes corn, cheese, and a dipping sauce for the potatoes. Which traditionally is wrapped in a bunch of flavorful herbs and placed on top of hot rocks, then covered with dirt for a few hours to cook. This underground style of cooking is very traditional in Peru and is often used for special occasions. (More often, a large pot is used but all the same ingredients are cooked, but it's much easier than cooking underground). It's a very delicious meal and i highly recommend it when you visit Peru.
After eating we began the dancing and passing the beer bottles and common cup. We danced to Cumbia, and of course, whino (a very typical style of music in Yauyos, that involves everyone holding hands and dancing in a circle). The evening was quite fun and as I left at 1:00 a.m. people were a little confused why I wanted to leave so early. Peruvian parties often go all night...literally.
It was a good experience and a great change of pace from my normal friday night in Tomas (going to bed early after reading for a few hours!)

To view pictures visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/JBrandell/AWeddingInTomas

Things are going well, peace and happy Lent.