we already possess what we seek most fervently May 20, 2010

I’ve been busy lately. Really busy and happy and traveling a lot.

Last week I had an incredibly successful HIV Prevention activity with the kids in addition to my normal classes. The idea was that since there is only 1 television channel, no internet or cell phone and no radio, their main form of media was traditional huayno songs. And lately the songs have been getting off-message with lyrics like “Un choque fuga no mas, no quiero verte jamas, porque problemas seras” – basically translated to something like “Just a one night stand, I never want to see you again, because you will cause problems for me”. Not quite the message I wanted these kids to be taking as an example. So I decided to have them compete, by grade, in writing their own hyano song about HIV prevention. And it was incredible. They were all on message, they were excited, and they did a great job. I’m currently in coordination with a professional singer who has agreed to record the songs on her next album. Success.

I’ve also made great progress with the museum project. I’ve gotten in touch with an archeologist. She’s a professor at one of the Universities in Lima and is willing to come help us out. The municipality will pay for her expenses while she is working here, but she is going to come teach us proper care of the mummies, maybe do a study on the cultures of the mummies (I’m not holding my breath for a carbon-14 dating since it’s so expensive), and she’s going to help us establish tourist routes to archeological sites in the area, which there are plenty of. We’re also going to try to go around again an collect more relics – I have a feeling people will trust us more if there’s an archeologist along for the work. This should all start happening within the next few weeks.

Other than those two awesome major steps forward, I’ve been continuing the almuerzos saludables classes with the mothers and I’ve been meeting tourists in my site and traveling.

Oddly enough, my site has received an influx of foreign tourists, a Swiss Family Robinson, a german couch surfur, and an Australian kangaroo, all in one week! This is probably a sign that things are about to explode here. And I need to start working more with the families that own hostels to make sure they’re ready for it. It’s also refreshing to speak to foreigners. Conversations over wine about how littering and enjoyment of the view are fundamentally incompatible, about standards of living worldwide, and life in general – levels of conversation impossible to have with people who know nothing outside of our little town.

After meeting the tourists, I went with some people from SERNANP on a hike to one of the archeological sites, called Wakis. It is basically a ghost town. It was hard to get water up to their location, so in 1914, they moved the whole town closer to the river. It’s only about an hour of quick hiking and I think it’ll be a great tourist attraction once we get the archeologist to convince the mayor to put a little money into fixing up the path.

From there we went to a celebration of one of the other town’s anniversary’s. There was a lot of loud music and drunk people and my host uncle serenaded us throughout the night. It was probably the most fun I’ve had at a Peruvian party in a long time.

From there, on Monday I had to travel down to the coast for the first in our series of meetings on PEPFAR, which has just been expanded to the Lima/Ica region. It was an interesting experience. A lot of press was there, but not many representatives from our municipalities were able to make it to sign a contract agreeing to put an emphasis on projects of HIV prevention. We’re probably going to try again somewhere closer to site, to make it more feasible. And then there will be a 2-3 day workshop in Lima in July. I think my site is pretty ahead of the curve on the topic as it currently stands, so I’m not too worried about it.

12 hours of travel in each direction just to get to the meeting. Less than a full day on the coast and then back to site for just one day. Forget being productive at that point. I slept all day. I didn’t even do yoga. I read. I was pure and simple EXHAUSTED. And it feels good. Finally! Being busy.

After a day of recuperation it’s back on the combi and off to the capital city where I will be participating in a two day congreso on environmental education, taking a day to run errands in the city and then back to site for a week of work.

At the end of the month, I’m headed to Lima to coordinate with the huayno singer about recording the songs before heading up to Ancash for a 5 day tech-exchange with the volunteers that live there. I’m excited to see their sites – I haven’t been to Ancash yet and it’s definitely on the list. More on that later.

Hope all is well.

Sending home lots of love,

Alex.

her former and present lives were so different that she couldn’t even hold one in her mind as she lived the other May 14, 2010

To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to die one hundred deaths. And I have been marked. And I have changed. To talk about this past month is to talk about health and productivity and success. I wouldn’t even recognize myself from this past rainy season. So what’s been keeping me busy? Teaching at the school, mostly. I teach for most of the day. I start each day with Science, Technology, and Environment classes, where we do environmental education mostly, but more technical subjects are not overlooked. I’ve been helping out in the english classes as well, mostly with pronunciation. Beyond that, I fill in whenever needed in other classrooms. I’ve been doing environmental story time with the primaria, reenforced with drawing and poetry. And I’ve started my HIV prevention program again this year. I’ve expanded it down through the second grade of the secundaria – 13 year olds are old enough to hear about this kind of thing. And the parents, teachers, and director agree.

Beyond teaching, I’ve been working closer with SERNANP on the political side of their work. Coordinating with local and regional governments, trying to get more recognition, and planning their Plan de Gestion for the next 10 years. Finally, something in the area of my degree. But this doesn’t take up too much of my time. This work is done at rare meetings and in conversations with the higher up bosses of SERNANP who are not stationed in my site.

So what else am I doing? My new program of Almuerzos Saludables (Healthy lunches) with the mothers in the communities. We all get together a few times a week and try out a new recipe. It’s either a recipe I come with, or a Peruvian recipe they already use a lot, that we try to make healthier – by using less sugar, less oil, less butter, substituting potatoes for rice, or preparing the meat with less grease, etc. And then, so they don’t get bored, I’ll throw in some fun things as well – like pancakes! We are currently limited by our lack of stove, but that might change soon and once it does, we can make breads, to substitute that plain white hard old dry bread they eat with breakfast and dinner every day. Zero nutrition. So as it turns out, I’ve taken quite an affinity to cooking. Here’s one of our recipes: (The mothers like to name them)

Arroz Jardinero

Ingredients:

300g of rice

100g of carrots

100g of green beans

100 g of peas

100g of cauliflower

1 teaspoon of butter

2 limes, sliced

100g of shredded cheese

2 ½ cups of water

2 ½ teaspoons of salt

3 cut tomatoes

2 laurel leaves

Wash the vegetables and cut them into cubes. Wash the rice and leave it to soak for 15 minutes. Melt the butter in a medium sized pot and add the cut vegetables except for the tomatoes. Leave them in for about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir together. Add the water and the salt, the tomatoes, and the laurel. Stir well and set it to boil. When the rice is ready, serve in a warm plate, decorating it with the shredded cheese.

So there it is. Our cooking sessions turn into impromptu conversations about nutrition and the women love the company while cooking. They can’t always get together in one place, so sometimes I work with just one woman in her house.

So in addition to keeping busy with work, I’ve made a few other significant lifestyle changes, thanks to which I feel healthier, stronger, more energetic, and balanced.

I’ve lost my sweet tooth – no more sugar or sweets (except on rare occasions); I meditate every morning; I walk 10km 3-5 times a week; I have gotten serious about my yoga practice with daily sessions of 30min- 1 hour; I have cut back seriously on my coffee intake – from 2 cups/day down to one/week; I eat pomegranates as much as humanly possible – in addition to having tons of antioxidants, they’re the most delicious food ever made in the world; I have a mostly raw diet and have switched from 3 heavy meals/day to about 5 small meals, including snacks of almonds and carrot sticks instead of potato chips and chocolate. Etc. Etc. Etc. Long story short, I feel a million times better.

Still no word from the doctor about first aid training, but I’m gonna see if I can find some resources online and just do it without him. Also, no news yet on the museum. I’ll keep you updated.

Oh, also in really cool news – I was offered a job in the office of the congresista by ex-president Fujimori’s brother and I got to meet Antionio Brack Egg, minister of the environment. Separate Occasions. Both pretty big deals.

Until Next Time,

Alex