What you can look forward to if you read this
post:
- Combi driver strikes
- Tres de Octubre Part 2
- Chosica
- Peru Country Clubs
- More pictures
- Peace Corps elections
- MY SITE!!! (more exciting than it sounds, as I know very little about it)
Combi Driver Strikes
Combis,
remember those bus like things filled to the brim with people that race down
the highway at breakneck speeds that I told you about several episodes
ago? Combis are the main form of
transportation for the working men and women in this region of Peru (and
possibly other regions but I can’t speak with certainty on that), and as such
are relied upon for transportation to and from work, the market, schools, and
any other institutions that a person might be interested in attending. Well based on their extreme importance and
necessity, it is only logical that the drivers would go on strike for a day.
From what
we understand (which is very little and based on extreme speculation) there are
2-3 main combi companies. Think of a
combi company like a cab company where they have a bunch of vehicles that
people drive. One of the main combi
companies has a history of traffic violations, infractions, recklessness, and
various other wrong doings. Additionally
they have a history of never paying their fines, rather they accumulate them
and then protest for a day or two by blocking main roads to show that they are
a needed service to this region and, as such, won’t be paying their
tickets.
We were
lucky enough to be here for one of these protest times. Sights to be seen include large numbers of
people standing on corners trying to find transportation, large groups of
gringos thoroughly confused, combis arguing with other combis in the middle of
intersections, transportation fairs that are 10x the standard amount, and various
other sights that one might expect to see during a combi protest.
I make it
sound worse than it actually was.
In reality,
we didn’t really know what was going on except for the fact that every combi we
saw was empty and people were trying to hail other forms of
transportation. We in turn call upon the
U.S. Government to round up 27 gringos stranded in two barrios. How does Uncle Sam respond, you ask? With a combi of his own, of course. Well actually more of a huge van that we
crammed 27 people inside of. So I guess
it was exactly like a combi. Similar to
the Post Office, neither rain, nor sleet, nor combi protest will stop Cuerpo de
Paz (Peace Corps in Spanish) training.
Tres de Octubre Pt. 2
Tres de Octubre,
celebrates its anniversary every year on the weekend of October 3. If you think it is a funny coincidence that
they just so happen to celebrate their town’s birthday on a day that is
strikingly similar to their town name (more like exactly similar), well you are
entirely wrong. Tres de Octubre (Spanish
for the 3rd of October) was name for the day it was founded.
Again, we
were invited to partake in the festivities.
9 out of the 10 aspirantes that live in Chacrasana (if you haven’t been
following my blog religiously, Chacrasana is the town I live in. I also recommend you follow my blog
religiously) got together, split a beer or two, then hopped on the combi to go
towards Tres. Little did we know, Tres
is one of those magical cities where, if you don’t know how to get there you
will miss your combi stop, argue a bunch, then wander the streets for an hour
and a half until you find it. Truly
magical.
We ended up
finding Tres de Octubre and had a splendid time dancing and socializing with
the folks until late into the night.
Sadly, no toro loco (see the previous post for the reference).
Little town
festivals are a great place to spend all of your money. There is great street food to be had and
beverages to hydrate yourself with. Is
there a better way to spend your paycheck?
I think not (also, our paychecks are super small. I live on 10 Soles/day, or the equivalent of
$2.20-ish depending on the exchange rate of the day.)
Chosica
There is a
regional city near us called Chosica, and it is here that many weekend nights
are spent. Chosica contains a lovely
park, numerous restaurants and bars, and several discotecas. If you walk into any of the discotecas on a
Friday or Saturday night, it is a safe bet that you will find a group of
gringos dancing like fools.
Training is
hard. We wake up around 6am everyday
through various methods. Some wake up to
roosters, some wake up to dogs, others wake up to dog fights in the
street. After leaving the house we cram on
combis (referenced in a previous post) and head to the training center. There we are “talked at” for 8-9 hours. Never in my life have I seen so many
PowerPoint presentations in such a short amount of time. This happens 5-6 days a week.
After such
a hard week, it is only natural that one would want to go somewhere to relax
and that place is Chosica.
Peruvian Country Clubs
When you
think of a country club, what comes to your mind? Polos?
Golf courses? Fancy dinners? Well in Peru, at least near Chacrasana, these
clubs look a little different. At the
bottom of our hill, we have a club called Portada del Sol (Portada del Sol is
also what you yell on a combi to express your intent to exit at this stop) and
this club features some incredible amenities including, but not limited to a
large grass field with holes and cracks everywhere, a river that features a
surprisingly small amount of trash, paddle boats, dirty pools, a dirty looking
jungle-gym, and several menacing guard dogs.
All this can be yours for the admission price of 5 Soles (about $1.80).
While it
may not sound like a great place to be, it is actually a incredibly fun
time. Picnics, swimming, soccer,
Frisbee, rock hopping on the river, and basking in the endless sunlight, what
more could a Peace Corps aspirante living on a budget want. While we have only been to Portada del Sol
one time we make endless plans about returning to this charming place.
Peace Corps Elections
In Peru
(and possibly other Spanish speaking countries) a committee or governing group
is called a junta (pronounced hoonta).
Think along the lines of the P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association for
those who find themselves disconnected with the topic of parent involvement in
the education system). Not surprisingly,
each group of Peace Corps aspirantes elects a junta to govern them throughout
training, and possibly into the future, however I am unsure if this is entirely
true. Nonetheless, we had an election
for our junta. We elected a president, vice-president,
secretary, treasurer, fiscal (a person responsible for making sure all other
people are doing their jobs correctly and various things related to discipline,
typically the most trustworthy person on the council and above corruption), and
a vocal for each of the three programs (water & sanitation, health, and
environment).
After a
week of heated campaigning (one poster was hung up by one person) the votes
were cast, and can you guess which fine young aspirante was elected
fiscal? If you guessed any other person
besides me, you are entirely wrong and should be ashamed. I am the fiscal of the 22nd Peace Corps Peru
junta, and although I am not president, I rule with an iron fist.
MY SITE (where you will find me for the next 2
years)
After much
anticipation and speculation the time came to receive our site placements for
the next two years. This is an event
that holds significant meaning for an aspirante, for this is the moment that
you will finally know where you will be, who you will spend your time with, and
whether you brought the right clothes with you.
Despite all the anticipation, I arrived to the training center on this
day and forgot that all of this was happening.
Meanwhile my friends sat around anxiously chatting, speculating, and
hoping about placements.
Between two
trees were strung ~52 balloons. The significance
of these balloons was explained to us during a brief assembly describing the
course of the next hour. Each balloon
contained the site information for an aspirante. The balloons were popped with a “magic wand”
(really a broken piece of ¼” PCV pipe painted black with a small orange balloon
attached to it. When your balloon was
popped you received your assignment and the wand, then you popped the next
balloon and handed off the wand.
To make a
long story short, my site is the town of Pomacochas in the Amazonas region of
Peru. I know very little about this site
except that I have a site mate from the health program, there is a big lake, I
am about ~30minutes from monkeys, and my host dad says there is a lot of fish
in the lake. Oh yeah, my site is on a
lake. Also it rains a lot. According to numerous sources on the
internet, the temperature ranges from 8-20 C, which I estimate to be 40-70 F,
although I haven’t actually converted it.
If you have free time and are interested in my next home I would greatly
appreciate your research skills/internet access as my access to the World Wide
Web is extremely limited.
Pictures Section (only 2, the internet is slow today)
This is our valley from the top of our mountain. This picture features 10-15 neighborhoods between Chacrasana and Chosica. Super pretty during the night time.
Next time on Oh Hey, Peru (hopefully posted
soon, but based on my track record it will probably be a while)
- Field Based Training
- Hat shopping in Lima
- Probably more pictures
- My typical day
