all of us, one way or another, are insane February 15, 2009

Today, a fat old man told me I was fat. And not in an endearing way. It went a little something like this:
Him: “Wow, you got fat”
Me: “well, yeah, I put on some weight… that’ll happen”
Him: “No, I mean, seriously – look at you. You looked so much better when you got here. What happened? Seriously.. what happened? Do your parents know? I would be ashamed to show them. Yep… you’re definitely a fatty. Ryan’s not fat. It doesn’t make sense.”
Me: *resisting the urge to stab him
This was Ryan’s counterpart as well as the director of one of the secondary schools, so I couldn’t even tell him off. Also, for the record – it’s not like I’m morbidly obese or anything, I still fit into all of my clothes. I put on 5, 10 lbs.. it’s like the freshman 15 thing – just need a few more months to get used to the diet, I think. I’m putting down the cake and picking up a salad… Just… damn.
Ok. Moving on from being insulted for like 10 straight minutes. I have a rat problem. This started when my host mom left town with a sink full of dirty dishes, which I came home to two days later. Also, there was an open bag of rice on the ground in the kitchen. Rats are gross. I have been contemplating setting traps, but then there’s the nasty cleanup… and poison sounds good in theory, but what if they crawl off somewhere and die in a wall somewhere. Then I would have to find it and deal with the smell… It’s just a hassle. So I keep a clean kitchen and the rats and I have this understanding. After it gets pretty dark and I’m done with the kitchen, I just kind of retreat to my room and close the door and they don’t bother me. And this worked for us for a while. But now, the bastards have started to eat my seed collection. This aggression will not stand, man. I’m gonna have to do something about them now. It’s on.
In the “weird things about Peru” file: I saw a dog the other day with a bunch of limes tied around its neck so it could deliver them to a neighbor. A lime delivery system? A trained dog in Peru? I’m so confused.
On the work front, I had a meeting in San Miguel with the authorities of the town to see if there was interest in the micro landfill idea. They seemed really excited, but also really distrustful because on a number of occasions, NGOs have come in and made promises and never come back to follow through. I guess there’s only one way to prove that’s not going to happen. This meeting was also an opportunity to see how a small town meeting in a caserio is conducted. All of the women sit separately from the men, even though there are more women in the group. And then, it’s just a matter of who can talk the loudest. That person gets heard. It’s actually rather amusing to observe.
Later that week, I went by the heath post to see if they were doing any better at separating their medical waste, only to discover that yes, although improvements have been made, the newest complaint is that they throw placentas in with the regular trash. This resulted in an uncomfortable conversation with the head doctor about why this is a bad idea.
I also got to talk to one of the school secretaries for the secondary school. She is adorable, busting with ideas that never get heard because she’s not a teacher. So we’re going to put together a competition/project for the kids where they have to make huge posters relating to why it’s important to protect the environment and the best ones will be hung up around town. We wanted to start with finding some simple basic books on environmental protection in Spanish for the kids. So I went into Piura this past weekend, and found hardly anything. It’s amazing how little there is in the way of children’s books about the environment in Spanish. I’m gonna have to see at the next monthly meeting if anyone else has had better luck in that regard…
Speaking of going to Piura – I was supposed to go down on Thursday with my counterpart in a camionetta. But he got drunk really really early in the day, forgot to confirm our seats in the car, and then passed out and didn’t wake up until midday the next day. Way to go, Jorge. So I got up at 5am and sat outside the municipality building in the rain waiting for either Jorge or the car to show up.. and neither did. It’s actually kinda funny in hindsight.
I finally did get into Piura on Friday and ran errands all day. Saturday, for Valentine’s day, I hung out with the few volunteers that were in town and went out later that night to hang out with the volunteer expats. The French guy was having a goodbye party at his house for one of the Spanish girls. And these people were freaking AMAZING. They all work on environmental/agricultural themes as well, or they work with children. There were people from France, Spain, Holland, Norway, Peru, and the US. And we were all hanging out, eating delicious couscous with vegetables, drinking (in moderation, like adults, instead of like Peruvians usually drink – to get drunk), speaking Spanish (My spanish is GREAT when I drink), listening/dancing to Reggae, talking about the spirit of volunteerism, doing language and music comparisons, you get the picture…. They had dreds and piercings and tattoos and free spirits and holy crap!!!! I found foreign educated hippies my age!!!!! And they are all fabulous beautiful people. I am beside myself with excitement about that situation. Clearly.
Also, since my last post, I read American Taboo, which was a lot drier than I expected. Wasn’t really the attention-grabbing page turner I expected, but it’s a good story nonetheless. And I read V for Vendetta, which is actually a novel based off of the screenplay, instead of the the other way around, which was weird. It’s a fun mindless read. I prefer it when it’s a book first, and then a movie, though, for sure.
So that’s that. Hopefully my fat ass doesn’t shame my parents.
Miss you all and love you!
Paz,
Sasha