Odds and Ends

Minor Quake During School:

During my second day at site, while the health post was giving an all day charla, there was a 6.6 earthquake in northern Peru. We felt the trembles, and all calmly walked outside to wait for a few minutes. It was interesting to see the school's reaction, and it gave me a moment to discuss planning for emergencies. No injuries, and just one small crack in the school's ceiling. No picture is  available due it it being a charla and kinda a serious deal. 

Walking to School with Jefferson

Jefferson has a hard time reading, writing and doing math; so needless to say, he also has a hard time going to school. However, he seems to like the attention he gets when he goes with his big brother. Here's Jefferson and I on our way to school. 

Cuy Being Born

When cuy are born there are two possible reactions (depending on your current hemisphere). Either it is: "Awe, look at the cute baby guinea pigs!", or "Yes, more food!". Due to my current location, these are future Cuy Picantes. Side note: My host mom is buying some rabbits this week. Ol' MacDonald has nothing on Dina.

Pasos Group

Shout out (again) to Christie for hooking me up with this group of kids and the school director. They are youths (hence the youth development program) that have completed a 3 month long after school course addressing sexual, physical, and mental health (ie. self-esteem, family planning, safe sex, effects of drugs, etc.). Now they are with me, and are health promoters ( they are going go into classes to talk to their peers about the same stuff). They are a bunch of characters who are fun to work with, and something most volunteers don't find until the end of their service. Another big huray for Christie (who is probably currently  dancing the tango and drinking mate with a underwear model/professional soccer player, as she travels for the next two and half months,seeing Argentina and Brazil. Christie, if you're reading this, remember what you learned while teaching Pasos). 

Going Pro

For a guy who found it nearly impossible to set up his office answering machines at work last year, it seems almost comical that I now have business cards AND a stamp! I'm more pumped about the stamp. Now when the mayor or the school director stamps some formal document for me, I can re-stamp it and yell "You can't triple stamp a double stamp!"

Side Note: The quote on the bottom is a 'tip of the hat' to Christie (the volunteer I'm replacing). It's a quote she painted on the bottom of her world map at the market in Caraz (painting a world map is must for all youth volunteers). Now, every time I go to the market, I see her map with this quote, and think about what she's done for me. She stuck around to show me the community before she left (not mandatory), and set me up REAL well. Thanks to her, I have a ton of work to do (a good thing), with a lot a involved people. 

Home Improvements with Roger

Roger is the life blood of my host-family, and I'm pretty sure he never sleeps. He is always the first one up, and the last one to bed. And besides possibly being a machine, he's great mix between Bob Vila and MacGyver. He scavenges and ensembles with the best I've seen. Pat and Jill better hope this Roger never moves on to C st, because they'd have some serious building competition (and Roger would just use the stuff from the 'free box')*.   Case in point the shower he built for the gringo (me), for under 10 dollars. The process is too complicated for me to describe (I just tried, but deleted it), but let me tell you the material list.

Bought:

2 -6' tubes of 3/4'' PVC Pipe.

1 - On/Off Valve

1- Plastic rain spout for a gardening bucket

Scavenged:

1- Old cement platform form a latrine

12- Bricks

5- Wooden poles

1- Long strip of plastic painter's tarp

1- Plastic presidential campaign banner (Kieko Fujimori, who lost earlier this spring)

2- Small pieces of metal roofing

1- Black cloth mesh used for building cuy and rabbit coops.

Here's a picture and a video will soon be made:

Additional Shower Notes:

Roger wants to use the metal roofing and more tubing to make it a solar shower. He's talking about installing a second valve connected to tubing, which will be snaked across the metal roofing material, and heated by the sun... should work.

Dina and Roger both took their first showers the day after he put it in. Jefferson is afraid of the falling water. They've never bathed this way before (they're use to doing the bucket bath thing), so it funny to hear them talk about the showering experience. I guess I've always taken that for granted.

Roger is talking about building me another shower closer to my door, so I don't have to walk the whole 25 feet across the drive way. Either he thinks I'm the laziest person ever, or he really enjoyed the project; you take your pick.

* The major inside joke for the Seeley Lakers is because the cabin has been on my mind since I'm missing Karen's Wedding. Good luck Karen and Dave.

Swearing In

Before anything, I have a new mailing address since I am now an official volunteer! See the updated page with the new mailing info.

So finally after 10 weeks of training, I'm now a Peace Corps Volunteer for Peru 17, and Peru 17 was the first group since Peru 4 (2004) to have all of the aspirantes (aspiring volunteer trainees) to make it to swearing in day.
The ceremonies were nice (one on Thursday to thank the host families, and one on Friday to actually swear in).

Friday was the big event, with the US Ambassador headlining. There were nice speeches and some formalities. But in the end it was a little sad, as it sunk in that you and your friends from training aren't going to be together any more, and that in less than 24 hours were all going to spread with the wind to random places all over the country (with some facing a 23 hour bus ride to their sites, mine is only 8 hours). It was also sad having to say good by to the Hinajosa Family. They treated me really well in Yanacoto, and I was hard to express my appreciation. My departing gift was 4 framed pictures of the 4 aspirantantes they had their homes, with a note from each thanking them. Gregoria loved it.

Now I'm off to Ancash for the next 730 days of my life.

Me with Gregoria and Gloria at Swearing In Day

Gregoria and I

The Oath of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

The families of Yanacoto saying good bye to their respective kids. I'm wearing a black cowboy hat that Don Poncho gave to me (For Black Beauty and when I dance at weddings).

(Also blog posts and emails may be less frequent for the next few weeks as I figure out my new site and where to find internet).

Brice's 2011 Parade of Homes

Not counting tents, cars, and forest service cabins, I can still easily say that I've called 5 different places "home" this last year. Let's take a look back at the various roofs over my head:

Anchorage, Alaska:
 If Adam is ever able to fix up one of his few Honda 90s to be either amphibious, or capable of flight, it would take him nearly 6,200 miles (as the motorcycle flies) to get to the start of this parade of homes: Anchorage, AK.

The place in Anchorage was a great little apartment, with awesome Chinese landlords, and CrAzy neighbors. It was a steal of a deal for two good looking, outdoors orientated, (occasionally) dog loving, school district employees, in search of something close to work, and where they could stable a 1970's red tandem bicycle. It was also the epicenter of my feverish reading of Peace Corps blogs and PC application status checking.

Cowboy  and I sharing a meal.

Missoula, MT:
A place I haven't really thought of home for almost the last decade. However, it is my home town, and the place that I'm slated to return to in August 18, 2013 (barring any meltdowns related to 2012 Mayan Calendar). Zoo-town is a nice place, with an unbelievable reputation, and they might have a football team too.

I'm looking forward to seeing Missoula again one day (but it can wait).

Mom and Dad right before my last meal in Missoula.

My home.

Look at Mt. Jumbo from my house.

Seeley Lake, MT:
My preferred home. It's home to many great outdoor adventures, and other fun activities. This place is also home to countless fond memories and great people (notable memories including: boating, fishing trips, skunks, starting my Alaska journey, family time, games, and night time bike rides).

Ever since elementary school, at the end of every summer (usually in late September) I always found myself melancholy as I reflected on the summer as things were being stored for winter. This year was no different, except for summer was only a few days long, ended in June, and stuff was just being brought out (a bummer, that was quickly plowed over by the my trip to Peru).

The cabin with stuff still put away for winter.

Last photo taken by me from the cabin.

Yanacoto, Peru:
Not my first choice to live, but also not the worst place to live. A very arid community 30 K east of Lima, Peru. While not necessarily Club Med, it definitely has what I needed: a great Peruvian Family to help me acustombarme (get adjusted to/accustom to) Peru and the Peace Corps.

The Hinajosa Family is what makes Yanacoto. They've treated me like a long-lost memeber of the family since day one. And thanks to them, the culture shock and homesickness never sets in for too long. However, in addition to the Hinajosas, Yanacoto has sports the probably the highest amount of amazingly nice and tolerant people (per capita). A few examples: Andria's family (random kid wearing a Griz sweatshirt that gets hunted down, and interrupted during family lunch by a mumbling gringo with a camera), the multiple mototaxista that wave to me every time I walk up or down the hill; heck, even the little gangsters in the community are nice.

Here is a video of the mansion I've live in the last 10 weeks:

Yanacoto Home Video

Yurocoto, Peru:
The final resting point for that dart tossed at the map on March 25th, 2010 (see application time line). It's hard to think that Yurocoto is "the place". I think back to all that daydreaming I did after I submitted my PC application (will I be on some tropical island, or in the highlands of South East Asia, or Sub Saharan Africa...), and to think that I finally know what my home for the next two years looks like, is just mind blowing for me. To think that somewhere between Africa and Asia (all were possibilities since I put "Anywhere" on the application), I landed in Yurocoto, Peru; and finally know what it looks like.

It's too early for me to really describe it, since I was only there for 4 days, but here is a video of my home.

My home in Yurocoto

AND here are some pictures from my site visit:

9th week of Training: Site Visit


There surely will be more information to come with time.

Fresh Clothes

Ever wonder what the Whirlpool washer does after you hit the start button? Me neither. But just in case you ever do, or ever want to go "back to basics", watch this video of Gregoria telling me how to hand wash my clothes.

Gregoria: "Brice are your going to wash your clothes?"


Unfortunately, my follow up video of me explaining the process in English refuses to upload, so you just have to imagine that she making sure I do it right. If you understand Spanish, or took Spanish in high school (Que hora es?!) then you probably caught the process: get the clothes wet, soap 'em up, scrub them if they are durable, rinse them 4 time until there is not soap or dirt in the water, hang them up inside out. That's the basics, but in reality, if Gregoria's watching you... you make you sure do it the way she taught you. Turn out the pockets, scrub the insides, shake out the wrinkles, etc; or else, she'll take the clothes from you and do it herself (kinda degrading).

Teaching gringos (first Peter, then Ian, then Laura, and now Brice), has been a time honored pass-time for Gregoria and her Peace Corps kids. She prides herself knowing that none of her kids are going to starve or look crusty when living in the campo (rural parts) of Peru. For me, it was a rite of passage to have my jeans pass the Gregoria test (they didn't smell like dirt or soap, and I remembered to hang them inside-out).

To sum it all up, hand washing clothes can be good. With it's mindless labor and nostalgic (shout out to Mariah) feel, I don't mind it. However, it is a pain to have to set aside one hour a week, and plan to not have certain clothes for 1-3 days (drying time depending on the sun). For now, it's too early to tell if this will be something I continue to do after Peace Corps, but don't be surprised if you see me at Vann's Appliances when I return. 

This bandwagon is out of control!

I was walking to the bus stop to catch a ride to Chosica to get my haircut (3.50 S/. = $1.20), when I saw this:

This is Andrias, a fellow resident of Yanacoto, and the president of the "Griz Nation-Peru". Fortunately his mom was nice enough to let me interrupt their family's lunch to hold this quick interview:

Peruvian Griz Fan Interviews

Here is the transcription:

Brice: "Hello, Andrias."
Andrias: "Hello."
B: "I'm here with Andrias, and he has a sweater for the Grizzlies, the University of Montana. And... How did you get that sweater?"
A: "My aunt brought it to me."
B: "Ah, your aunt. Are you a fan of the Grizzlies?"
A: "She just brought it to me."
B: "Do you know Marc Mariani?"
A: (Blank look)
B: "Well Marc Mariani is a player for the Grizzlies... and I met him before he was a Blue Pony. Do you know what a Blue Pony is?"
A: (Shakes his head no).
B: "Me neither, but he's famous. Thank you very much for showing me you sweater. Do you have any words for the people of the United States?"
A: "It's cool." (referring to the sweatshirt).
B: "Cool, thanks a lot. Good bye."

Love in Yanacoto

Peace Corps has three broad goals, the last two have to do with an intercambio (exchange) of cultures (learning Peru's and sharing America's Culture/Sharing Peru's culture with America). So, when a kid in the neighborhood Felix (aka Cuervo = Crow) professed his love to Amanda* through the use of a giant mural, I was surprised that she didn't like it. I think I'd be flattered (a feeling a sense of accomplishment), but I guess could be a little embarrassing to have to walk past this everyday on your way to, and from, training.

* Amanda and Yanacoto is an interesting side story... There are 3 Amandas in our group, one has fluent Spanish, and this one had little to none. Typically the people who have higher language skills are placed in Yanacoto (being 45 minutes away from the training site), while those just starting to learn Spanish are more sheltered in Santa Eulalia (where the training site is). Due to a mix up, this Amanda (with little Spanish skills) was placed in Yanacoto and has done a pretty great job of fending for herself. (It must have been love that brought them together).

Huancayo, Peru

A wedding in Huancayo is like no other in Peru; unfortunately, I didn't get to see the it. However, I got to see the family reunion prior to the weeding and celebrate the Santiagos with the families... so I was happy.


Santiagos:
Santiagos are specific only to Huancayo, and only at this time of year. They are best described as family parades around the city, set the music of a hired orchestra, to celebrate the farm animals. It seems to have everything that the people hold dear, all wrapped up into one package (Music, family, dancing, parades, beer, and paying respect to Pacha Mama or Mother Earth).

Basically, what happens is the family holds a family reunion (and party) for 2 or more families at a house. Each family dresses in the typical Sierra clothing, with the men of each family wearing a specific color of pants, hat, and tie. The families also each hire an orchestra. At the start of the party, the head of the each family presents each other family with a gift and gives a small speech (the gift to our family was a huge stack of beers).

Then after each family has received their gifts and given the speeches. The families take turns dancing. When the orchestra of one family is playing, that family dances. When the other orchestras are playing they sit, talk, and eat.

Then when the family is revved up and really excited (read into that statement), they take the show on the road, parading around the block as they dance to their orchestra marching behind them.

This is a family that was Santiago-ing when arrived into Huancayo.

Note the matching outfits sported by the men to show their family connections.

Family Reunion:
Having just missed the Neary Family Reunion in South Dakota, I felt a little sheepish walking into the Hinojosa Family Reunion and introducing myself as Brice Hinojosa Corts, but what can you do... you're in Peru. The whole deal started off like any other big family gathering, but then slowly picked up speed. However, to best describe this event, its best I lay down in two phases Day Time vs. Night Time. The change in the two phases was not due to the sun and the moon, it was more due to the drinking circles. Drinking circles? Allow me to explain:

----Side Bar On Drinking Circles----

In Peru, alcohol is very present and drinking (mainly beer) is a very common way to celebrate; however, with drinking, there are other factors involved. One aspect is alcohol as a gesture of respect or love. In the countryside, money and gifts are not common, but beer and food is. So, if you were to enter into a home, almost surely the woman will offer you a big plate of food. And and if your walking down the street or at a party, almost always a man will offer you some beer. To turn down the food or refuse the drink (no matter how full, sick, or tired you are) would be the equivalent to refusing to shake someone's hand when they offer it to you ( there always ways to say no... it's just something you can too often).

Drinking circles are custom here in Peru. If generally involves: a bunch of beers, one cup, and a circle of people standing around the beers. Everyone shares the same cup, and every one drinks the same beer until it's gone. Here's the basic set up: One person invites the other join the drinking circle (sign of respect) by offering them the bottle and the cup. That person opens the bottle and pours as much as he wants into the cup. Then he passes the bottle to next person in the circle. While that person holds the bottle, the first person drinks his cup of beer and the dumps out the foam on the ground. Then passes the cup to the person holding the bottle, starting the process over. The cup and bottle travels around the circle until all the beer is gone. It's pretty simple minus a few side rules... such as:

1. If a woman is to your side, you must serve her first, wait until she's done before you serve yourself. If there are more than one women to you side, you must serve them all before you drink. (Be a gentleman)
2. A women is never expected to hold the bottle (Don't pass her it).
3. It's insulting to pour another man a beer (because that's what you do for the ladies).

(I broke all the rules, but thankfully Frank was there to tell me what to do).

---- Back to the Phases of the Family Reunion ---

During the day, the reunion seemed pretty normal. The kids ran around, while the individual families mingled and ate outside (we ate Pachamanga). Each family was dressed in their specific colors and circled up to receive the presents form the other families. After the speeches, the family dug into the stack of beers while waiting for their orchestra to start playing. People were pretty curious about the big white guy with the camera (Gregoria's new son), but were generally too shy to approach me or make eye contact. However, one aunt did grab me before I could leave with Frank and Danny(we were going to walk around a little) to dance with the family.

Me Dancing

After my dance ("Nobody puts baby in the corner"), Frank, Danny and I left to see more of Huancayo.

When we came back, we observed the impact of the drinking circles and noted that the family sized had doubled. There was no timidly asking Gregoria who I was. It seems like I talked to everyone, and was even sung to by Gregoria and my host Aunt (some song about a guy being unfaithful and a liar. Go figure, because I requested Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline). I think videos speak for themselves.

Day Time Video Link

Night Time Video Link


The Wedding (which I didn't get to see):
 The Wedding was on Domingo (Sunday), so Frank, Danny, and I couldn't make it. We needed to return home that day, for work and school on the next. However, I know I missed a unique opportunity. Wedding in the Huancayo area are like no other, as they have their own traditions. Luckily my host-dad filmed it all and I was able it at home (and maybe someday upload the film here). What makes it so unique, is the gift giving process. Here's how it works. After all of the normal wedding stuff we are use to in the states, and everyone gets a chance to dance with the bride and groom, then the gift giving process starts. The bride and groom sit at a table and everyone leave. Then the orchestra starts playing music, the bride's family (about 30-40 people) parades in (just like above during the Santiagos) carrying gifts of food. Tons of fruits, cheese, and few pigs and chickens (live). Then the grooms family (30-40 people) comes in doing the same. Then they all dance. Then the process starts over, with everyone leaving, but the brides family parades in carrying furniture and other household items (Beds, tables, pots, pans, etc.). Then the groom's family does the same with their gifts. Then they all dance. Then they leave, and the next parade session, is the crazy one. The families march in with money in their hats (tucked in the bands of their hats) as gifts. The people go crazy for this and there is all kinds of yelling and excitement (this couple received 8,400 S/.). Then they all dance. Then the last parade, everyone carries in beer. Lots and lots of beer, too much to describe (Gregoria kept repeating how "there was SO much beer that each person got his or her OWN bottle, AND there was still beer left over". Getting you own bottle is kinda rare here... see the drinking circle section above). 

Just to recap, because there are a lot words above:
2 Parades, one with each family. 4 categories (Food, Furniture, Cash, and Beers).


Finally, I know this was along post, but I've also included a link to a picture album. There are few stories that I didn't mention (scenic drive over, having to dance on the tour bus) that kinda covered in the captions. Enjoy.

Huancayo Fotos

This is also just a random video I took in Huancayo. 

Video of the kids catching the ducks.

Where is Brice going to live for the next two years???

Drum Roll Please....


Yurocoto, Ancash, Peru!!!!!
(I'm going from Yanacoto to Yurocoto).


If I got to pick any department in the country of Peru to live, it would without a doubt be the the department I was assigned to on Wednesday. Some volunteers wanted beaches, or hot climates, or big towns with universities nearby; I just said give me somewhere cold, in the mountains, and preferably small... And  true to their track record with me, Peace Corps hooked it up. My site has everything I asked for, and more.

Mountains: Think Alaska meets south America (The mountains in Ancash are the number one tourist attraction, think "Touching the Void"... and if you haven't seen that movie recently, or ever, stop reading, go watch it on instant Netflix, and then come back and to read the rest of this blog).

Cold: My town will be at about 8,000 feet. I'll be looking at snow year round.

Small: 400 people. LSH (my high school) was equal to over half of this town's population.

Bonuses: Mountain lakes and rivers (think fishing), great other volunteers, Quechua speakers, and more!


I'm going there this Monday to see the site. I be there a week to meet my new host family*, and determine what I need to buy (I know I'm going to need to buy a bed because they don't have one for me). Until I can get there (8 hours by bus from Lima) and return, join me in my daydreaming by checking out this link to Wiki and this to Google image search:

Wiki Link to Ancash Info

Images of Ancash

* My host family here in Yanacoto (the Hinojosa Family) are super happy for me, but we're all sad I have to leave. When I came home Wednesday night Gregoria, Francini, and Don Poncho were waiting for me. After I told them where I was placed, Don Poncho got up and gave me a hug (which was great, but caught me off guard as was thinking he was coming in for a handshake). I'll be sad to leave these guys in 2 weeks, because they've treated me real well, and I know I've had it pretty easy with them. But as with all my other Peace Corps siblings (Peter from Ohio in Peace Corps 14, Ian from Wisconsin in Peace Corps 15, and Laura from Illinois in Peace Corps 16) I'll stay in touch.

Randoms before dia de Patrias

So this is just a random post before I head out on vacaciones (vacations) for a long weekend. Tomorrow starts Peru's Dia de Patrias, which is basically 2 days to celebrate their independence (Why do we only have one day? And who do I need to vote for to get two?).

My host family has invited me to a family wedding in Huancayo, a Serria town 5-6 hours away. I'm not sure what to expect, but my host parent's selling points were: to meet the rest of your family, dance huayno music (pronounced: Wine-o and according to Wiki: it's a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music. High-pitched vocals are accompanied by a variety of instruments, including  flute, harp, panpine, accordion, saxophone, charango, lute, violin, guitar, and mandolin.) drinking, and eating eye (yep, ojo).

We received a talk from the embassy security person today, and he reminded us of a few things we need to be aware of for our own safety. All of it was pretty easy, and nothing guy who grew up up on the mean streets of Missoula can't handle; however, he reminded me of "Virtual Kidnapping". Basically, it's where someone hijacks your phone or contact information, and then calls your friends and family demanding money for their safe return (even though they don't really have the person). So, if you get a phone call at 3AM demanding money for me, hang up and go back to bed... then maybe check on me in the morning (odds are its just another dumb prank call coming from the stalls of the Rockin' R bathrooms).

Finally, this documentary that is now a nonstop commercial here in Peru. It's about Peru, Nebraska. Basically, it's shows how the people that live in Peru, Nebraska are really Peruvians that just don't know they are Peruvian. I've attached a youtube link to it, so if you have 15 minutes to kill, you should check it out (It may only be funny if you know all the Peruvian customs, but I enjoy it).

Marca Peru with Subtitles


Viva PERU (and the US too)!

Field Based Training

7-16 to 7-24 was my Field Based Training (FBT). This is where we are split up into groups and then sent to various departments to get to know that area and current volunteer's sites. There were three groups. One went to the mountains of Ancash (pretty jealous), another went the beaches of Piura (near Ecuador), and my group went to see both the Sierra and the coast of La Libertad.

FBT is a blast, not only do you get to escape from the training center to see some more of Peru, you also get a taste of what it's like to have a site, and live as a volunteer in the community for 2 years. We visited 5 sites, and each one had it's own specific vibe. Two of the sites were on the coast, Huanachaco and Puerto Malabrigo; two of the sites were more in land, Bello Horizonte and Proto; and one site was at 9'000ft in the Sierra (according to the volunteer), Otuzco. 

We took a night bus both times, so I don't know what the surroundings were like between Lima and Trujillo, La Libertad; however I do know that it was the nicest bus I've ever been on (see the link below). I just hope that there's a bus like this to Montana by August 2013.

Lujoso bus

Here's the break down of the the various sites we visited.

Trujillo:
We arrived on Sunday morning, after an 8 hour bus ride, to meet Ian (my PC brother. He was the second of four volunteers to stay with my currently host family) and Kelsi at the bus station. Ian and Kelsi are current Youth Development Volunteers, and offered to be our group's FBT leaders for the week. They did a great job of planning out our visit, and made sure all 12 of us in the group got where we needed to be on time (in addition to this they acted guides, translators, event coordinators, and sources of constructive criticism during our various training activities).

Ian and I at the beach

A church in Trujillo near the Plaza de Armas.

Trujillo is the capital city of La Libertad, and is one of the biggest cities in Peru (2nd or 3rd). It also served as our hub for the first few days, as we stayed in the hostal and took combis (vans) out the various sites. Besides good street food (Anticuchos with pizza bread), there isn't much to say about Trujillo.

Huanchaco
This was our first visit, and was more for us to see the coast of Peru, then really work. Huanchaco is 30 minutes away from town and is a local hot spot for tourist, beach goers, and good sea food. However, with it currently being winter, not too much was going on.

This place is also known for these boats made from reeds (called cabello de totora).

Caballo de totora

Puerto Malabrigo:
This place was cool, and was also the first place we got some work in. It too is a beach town, but it's more known for it's waves than anything else. Malabrigo is the home of the longest "lefter" (I think: a wave that cuts left) in South America. Its a mecca for lots of surfers and has that general beach town feel to it. While there, we got to meet the two Volunteers currently there (One working with small businesses and the other in Youth Development). We also got to see the YD volunteer in action and help her with one of her projects. First we watched a charla (informative talk) given by a dentist to pre-schoolers and their parents on brushing their teeth, and then we help the kids brush their teeth and administered so floride treatments.

Dentist Charla

Kids waiting to get floride treatment.

Amanda coating some floride gel on a girl's teeth.

Then we went to the special education school to meet the director and the students. We listened to a somewhat depressing speech from the director about the state of special education in Peru, and then helped the students with brushing their teeth. The students ranged from significantly Cognitively Impaired to not impaired at all (one girl was there due to being teased for her appearance).  Basically, I'm going to have to boil this part down to the "there is still a lot things to work on in special
education".

After the sped school, we went for a walk on the beach and to see the surf school (a PC Volunteer's project) in action. It was great, minus the Argentine surfer who busted my chops about US bombing in Libya...(Not my fault Che). 

Me getting a good look at the beach.

Me at the beach, looking good.

Surf school.

Bello Horizonte:
This is Ian's site, and we made two different day trips here.

The first day trip was to the school to give a couple of charlas, and then visit the orphanage. My charlas were ok. The first one went well (teaching English to 3rd graders), but the second one (teaching middle schools how to communicate with their parents) was a struggle. However, I wasn't too disappointed as it was only my 2nd ever charla. Little did I know that the 3rd charla was going to be horrible (keep reading).


After the charlas, we went to the orphanage up the road to meet and play with the kids. This is not a true orphanage in the since that most of the kids have parents that are still alive, but they've been taken into custody due to mistreatment or abuse. These kids were great, a ton of fun, and full of energy; however, they were a little difficult to guide, and often didn't stay very long on any given activity.

Here's a video Miguel took (a kid at the orphanage) while we were there:

Orphanage Video


The next time we were in Bello Horizonte, it was on our last day, and it was kind of a relaxed schedule. We got there early to help Ian's youth group paint trash cans (for their community recycling program) and a murral promoting the environment. It was fun to pass the time with the kids as they got to paint and hang out.

Painting tachos

Supervising the mural

The whole crew.

After painting, Nick, Adrian and I decided on the last minute to climb the peak that overlooks Ian's site. It was a fun 2 hour hike up through an Archeology site to this saddle (see the picture below). Then we scampered up to two different peaks. This was also Nick's (from Ohio) first climb ever.

Nick on Nick's Peak

L to R: Adrian, Brice and Nick over looking the valley above Bello Horizonte from the saddle.

Adrian overlooking the town of Bello Horizonte

Proto:
Proto is Kelsi's site, and it was pretty clear she had it made. Besides being a cute little town at the base of the Sierras, it also featured the following: a school full of excited and eager to learn children, a health post that is actively working with the youths to promote healthy lifestyles, a super nice host family, and all the fruit you can eat.

Just to give you an idea of how nice the people are, here are some examples.

1)We wanted bananas for breakfast one day, but the lady at the fruit stand didn't have any, so she sent Ian to her neighbor's house. The neighbor only had two banana. so she sent Ian to the next neighbor's house. There a little boy answered the door, and without hesitation gave Ian all the bananas he had (about 8) and wouldn't take any money.

2) I was buying fruit one morning and asked the lady where I could buy some cheese. Instead of pointing me to a nearby store, she invited me into her house, opened the refrigerator, and put a big block of cheese in a plastic bag... then refused any money I tried to offer her.

3) We gave health charlas to the middle school students. However, they knew we were coming, so they collected fruit from their chacras (farms) to give to us. We left the school carrying 3 huge nap sacks full of pineapples, bananas, avacado, and various other frutas (fruits) that I don't think exist in the English Language.

This class about the importance of future plans and goal setting went a lot better (I'm in the middle).

Me meeting some primaria (elementary) students.

Playing a with the kids.

Otusco:
This is a site that will forever be burned into my memory. Not because it was my first time seeing the Peruvian Sierras, or because of it's Virgin de la Puerta (wiki it), but because I got my lunch handed to me by a bunch of 6 year old demons while trying to give a "wash your hands" charla.

Picture this:  One gringo with mediocre Spanish skills starring at 56 six year olds set free in a classroom without a teacher in sight. Who do you think came out on top of that fight? Here's how this train wreck played out:

I entered the class confident in my classroom management skill (being a NASP member since 2006 and having listened to Dr. Randy Sprick a couple of times). The lesson plan was simple: do some interactive games to get the kids to realize how germs are passed, then show how to wash their hands (The kids had a different plan). Right after the school directer introduced me, and she the teacher left, I set my plan into action...

I reintroduced myself, smiled, and the then asked what are the class rules. No one responds. So, I say that I have a few rules (raise your hand, stay seated, and take turns) and that I'm going to write them on the board. The second I turned to write the rules on the board, 3 kids bolt out the class to the playground. I decide to ignore them, thinking that one crazy gringo playing games with the rest will be enough bait to bring them back. Nope. I have no idea what happened to those kids, but they missed out. They didn't miss any information, they just missed:

1. Smearing soap on the Gringo.
2. Jumping from desk to desk while the Gringo tried to stop them.
3. Tearing down the class decorations.
4. Playing with toys that they found in their desk (I saw one with a toy gun shooting at this neighbor)
5. Screaming in class
6. Having the Gringo scream at them in Spanish, English, and Spanglish (stop fighting, stop standing on their desks, no throwing stuff, etc).
7. Wrestling with whomever they felt like while the gringo acted like the ref.

Luckily I was being observed and was able to have the following pictures to remind me of the whole event; however, never in my life will I forget how helpless I felt as I stood looking up at the cute little kids in their uniforms, with their cute little puppy eyes, as they stood on their desks looking down at me smiling as they tried to tear the independence day decorations off of the ceiling.

Needless to say it was the longest 45 minutes of my life.

Me when I had control.

Me near my breaking point as the kids hopped from desk to desk.

Most of the houses are made from Adobe.

A flower in the Sierra, I bet it doesn't have a name.

Adrian and his pet goat. 

Bus Strike = Hike

Luckily there was a bus strike yesterday (Wed. 7/14) in Lima. Basically the mayor of Lima is pushing for newer and fewer buses in Lima, and the smaller bus drivers are saying that she's trying to drum up foreign business from the countries that make buses, and put them out of business. So the drivers went on strike. With past strikes turning ugly, the Peace Corps was worried that it too could turn ugly, so they didn't allow us to leave our host communities or go near the Carratera Central (making it impossible to travel to the training site). So that meant I got to go hiking!


Richard, Adrian and I headed out around 8:00am, and just hiked up the dry river bed that leads through town, until we hit the trail to the hieroglyphics. This trail also sube (goes up to) various illegal gold mines. We started in the clouds, but made it to the sun half way up the mountain. By 9:00, we were well aware of the heat, and tried to stop only in the shade.

Adrian passing the hard to see hieroglyphics.

Richard showing the way.

As you can see, it wasn't easy to find shade, and I was drenched.

 At about 9:45am, we were passed by a miner with a portable radio and tennis shoes (without socks). It was obvious that those shoes have probably climbed the mountain at least 900 times (judging by their condition). Needless to say, I felt kinda like a dork wearing my nice hiking boots and comfy hiking socks. At 10:15am we reached the summit and met this 4 characters. The one in the blue shirt was the one that passed us. 

 As with almost every Peruvian I've met, they competed for being the friendliest people I could ever imagine. Not what I'd expect from a miner (I guess I'm too use to those form Butte, America and not from Grassy Valley or Yanacoto). Anyway, they allowed us to interrumpir (interrupt) them during their morning coffee and coca leaf (chewed for more energy and appetite suppression) to hacer preguntas (ask them questions). Basically they shared that: 1. if you climb higher (i.e. 8 hours more) there are trees and small ponds. 2. There are animals (foxes, snakes, tranchulas, condors, and some bunny rabbit-type thing) but they either are really rare or usually only come out at night. 3. The guy on the far left sleeps there every night to gaurd their stash or cash rocks (bags seen behind the tent). 5. This crew digs a trench, but others dig holes. 6. The pile of rocks seen behind them are what they taken out of their 3' (W), 12' (L), 10' (D) trench (also behind them). 7. Its better to subir mas (climb higher/more) to see more and return to Yanacoto via a different ridge... so we did and we were able to make it down by 1pm.

I took the following videos (however, need to clear up two points from video #2):

Mine Hike Video 1

Mine Hike Video 2

1. I've cleaned my lens due to the obvious dirt.

2. I mention Pachamama (mother earth). This is a big deal in the Sierras. Many people believe in making offerings to Pachamama in all kinds of different ways. The most common way I've seen is the offerings made by miners (coca leaves, ciggerettes, wine, and/or flowers) before they try their luck... the other way I heard of is in a drinking circle (which will be covered in a future post).