You Wish You Were Here

As some of you may have remembered, we got married two years ago from the 26^th of June. As a treat to ourselves, we decided we’d take a little vacation out to the beach. You see, we may live over two miles above sea level in the middle of the Andes, but we’re still less than four hours away from the ocean.  [See title of this post.] We decided on Huarmey, which is one of the three main coastal cities in Ancash, though calling it a city is probably a stretch. I guess it’s one of three places people live on the coast in Ancash. We took a bus over the Cordillera Negra – not highly recommended, we both ended up puking, and landed in Casma, one of the other two places people live on the coast in Ancash. An hour colectivo ride later, we arrived in Huarmey, hopped in a moto taxi, and got to our hostel. The room smelled kind of funny, there were English classes being taught directly outside our room, the electric shower shocked us both several times, and I don’t think I’ve ever played on a more frustrating pool table (no room to shoot, uneven surface, and pockets that are about half the size of normal ones), but the owners were incredibly nice, and we had a great time nonetheless. We’re Peace Corps volunteers; we don’t (or shouldn’t) need anything too fancy anyway, and we were only paying around 15 dollars a night.

The first day we just strolled around Huarmey, went to the market, grabbed some dinner, avoided a parade; the usual things we do day to day. The second day we got up, made some breakfast, and headed over to the sand dunes forty miles north of the hostel where we did some sand-boarding. It turns out not to be as easy as it looks. It’s not much like sledding, longboarding, or any other what-I-would-have-thought-of-as-comparable activities, and after doing a few too many front-head-springs down the dunes, we decided to grab lunch and head back to Huarmey. It just so happens that we were there on a holiday – or, rather, we planned it that way so we wouldn’t have to use a vacation day – and when we walked over to the beach we got to see a procession with an imagen and live band marching across the sand. So we quickly avoided all of that, found a cozy spot, and attempted to doze while trying to avoid soccer balls that were flying past us and ignore the several bands that had gotten onto fishing boats and were simultaneously playing patriotic songs and shooting off fireworks. It was like a little taste of ‘Merica, and it took about 20 minutes for us to decide we’d rather pack it up and head back to the hostel to relax. The ocean was quite beautiful though. The next morning we returned to Casma, found a different company with which we could travel back to Huaraz, and made our way back home. This time, the driver decided to slow down before taking the curves, and we didn’t fear the vehicle was going to tip over at any moment. It’s the little things that make life not worth puking over. We did have a great time though, and I’ll count myself lucky: two years of marriage and she still wants me around. ¡Wepa!

So we got back Sunday, and after a few days in which we had for some reason scheduled several meetings, we left town again Wednesday morning to begin our four day trek across the Quedabra Santa Cruz. In addition to the two other volunteers that came along, there were two Canadians and two French guys. We hiked up and through the mountains, at one point through wind and now up to a pass at 4,750 meters (a little under three miles high) and back down the other side. We, thank goodness, had decided on using a guided service which included among other things donkeys to carry supplies and a cook to prepare the meals for us, and it was well worth the money. We were still carrying a 40L and 45L backpack the whole time, but we didn’t have to carry tents, food, or extra blankets for the (very) cold nights. I also added four more lakes to my count, so I’m now at seven glacially fed lakes in which I’ve swam. The trek was absolutely gorgeous, but I think I’ve discovered I’m more of a day hike kind of guy... or maybe a lower altitude trekking kind of guy. I enjoy camping, but when there’s wind and snow, it’s just not as enjoyable sleeping outside. I could talk a lot about the stuff we got to see, but I think pictures will tell the story a lot better, even if they still don’t do it justice. I’ve trimmed the over 160 photos we took down to just 80 plus a few from digging micro-rellenos and our trip to Huarmey.

[ENJOY!]

A Death in the Family

I am sorry to have to share with all of you that Kitty has passed away. We´re not sure exactly the cause, but for a few days she had stopped eating and couldn`t go to the bathroom. We made her comfortable, tried medicine, but last night around 10 PM she stopped breathing. So in honor of Kitty, here is an album of prevoiusly published photos that represent her at her best and cutest:

[Best of Kitty]

Lehman Party!

In no particular order, here is the stuff that has happened over the past month or so.

As some of you may recall, about three months ago I thought I had twisted my ankle but had actually broken a small bone in there somewhere. I got the X-ray a few weeks too late, and there was nothing they could do to set it, so I took some pills, rubbed on a cream, and stayed off of it as much as I could for a month and a half. Immediately following the month and a half, I walked an obscene amount, my ankle started hurting again, so I went to Lima, got an MRI, and set up an appointment in Huaraz to have a doctor read the MRIs and figure out what should be done next. I got my foot wrapped in some type of long-term sticky gauze to immobilize the joint, took some more pills, and have been getting magnetic therapy. Yes, it sounds like quackery, but supposedly it helps soft tissue injuries to heal faster. I’ll finish up my last of ten initial sessions today and have another consultation with the doctor to see what she thinks. I’ll also be able to finally remove the gauze stuff from my ankle, which at this point is only mobilizing Menda to sit as far away from me as possible due to the smell. Wish me luck.

The cherry trees Menda planted with her class in Jinua continue to grow. At the last count, I believe 17 had sprouted.

This past month has been filled with lots and lots of training. About a month ago now, we had the training for PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief). We were supposed to bring two community partners  (or socios), and although I thought it likely I would end up with no one there, I ended up with three. We made a plan for starting my Pasos Adelante group (a program focused on helping teens making smart decisions in their lives) and got up to date statistics on HIV, AIDS, STIs and more for our region and Peru in general. I walked out of it definitely feeling a little more prepared and a little more supported in my efforts. After PEPFAR, the Lehmans were here for four days – which I’ll talk about more below, and then I had to go to my next set of trainings: In Service Training and Project Design and Management. For the IST portion, we had to have a community partner come along. Mine ended up unable to come, but as I wasn’t alone in this, I didn’t feel terribly out of place without my own Peruvian at my side. That being said, I was a bit bored. A lot of the activities we did were for the sake of the community partners, but the volunteers had already received more in depth training on the same stuff during our first ten weeks in the country. The day where my group got to build an improved cook stove was definitely time well spend though. During Early In Service Training, we got to work on these too, but this last time was a little more informative I felt. However, the highlight of IST I would say, not for reasons of usefulness, was definitely the day where we talked about training peer educators. The information wasn’t new, but we did some dinámicas (active learning games? I’m not sure how to translate that) which were just wonderfully uncomfortable. I wasn’t too pleased at the time, but it’s a great story now. The first involved every volunteer standing up and exchanging massages with their community partners. A shoulder rub, no big deal, right? Except that after the shoulders came the head. Just kind of bizarre. Still, that doesn’t begin to compare to the awkwardness of then grasping the shoulders at the side, and then running your hands down to the ankles. I had as my partner another volunteer who didn’t have a socio, so we just kind of laughed about it. Some of the others had socios of the opposite sex though, and they were none too pleased. Awkward dinámica number two: While music was being played (after the Peace Corps organizer asked the person leading the sessions to involve no more dancing), we had to dance with our socios – to a slow jam no less – with our hands behind our backs and a balloon pressed between our stomachs. When the music stopped, we had to press toward each other until the balloon popped. I, once again, was partnered with a volunteer and simply pulled out a ball point pen and popped the balloon. Others weren’t so lucky and ended up thrusting into their partners.  And since we’re on the topic, I shared this experience with another volunteer, and he responded, “That’s nothing.” He had had an even more awkward experience during a training in his site. Everyone stood in a circle, passed around a doll, and had to kiss the doll in a location of their choosing. Then, after this was already done, the facilitator instructed everyone to then turn to the person on their left and kiss them in the same place. The volunteer ended up kissing an old man on the ear, and the person to his right had to kiss his foot. The worst part about all of these is that they didn’t connect back to any point. A dinámica should demonstrate some aspect of what you’re trying to teach. If it doesn’t, it’s just a pointless activity that stretches the day out, or in some scenarios proves painfully awkward. Next came PDM, and although we heard a lot of useful information, by the end of the second day, we were clearly all reaching our limits. The focus was on behavior change theory: all the barriers we’ll face in convincing people to wash their hands, boil their water, stimulate their baby, etc. and how best to overcome them. It’s really interesting stuff, and under other circumstances I think I’d have been really engaged, but I was brain dead by then. I walked out knowing that I should use behavior change theory during my service, but I just don’t think that it will work... Get it? The efficacy of the action is my barrier... Nevermind.

Last weekend I took the TESOL exam. If I passed, I will receive official certification for teaching English as a second language. The extreme irony is that it is one of the most poorly constructed courses of which I’ve ever heard. Instead of sending in small assignments along the way with a final test that covers some of the material at random, there is one gigantic test to evaluate the students. A test that with no less than four volunteers working on it together still took nine or ten hours. And the real bummer? It’s through an online company that may or may not be taken seriously by future employers. We weren’t told about that when we signed up. Oh well.

And now for the best part... We had visitors! The Lehmans came and visited for four days. They got to see our site and the pre-Incan ruins therein, Nicholas got altitude sickness, we all went up to see a melting glacier, and, best of all, they brought us American candy and barbecue sauce from the loving folks back home. On the way to the glacier, we stopped to see the Puya Raimondi, a plant unique to the Andes that blooms every hundred years or so and dies immediately afterward. It has several thousand flowers when it blooms and tens of thousands of seeds are released. Menda wanted to make sure I mentioned that she saw it first on Planet Earth, and then we got to actually see it. The glacier sitting at 17,600 feet, called Pastoruri, is a sad story. Less than a decade ago, you could ski there, build snowmen, etc. Now, you’re not even allowed to walk on it because it’s so small. In all honesty, it wasn’t that impressive to see for someone who has dealt with winters in Illinois and has seen giant snow-plowed mountains of ice and snow, but for the impact that climate change is having it is tragically important. In the streets of Huaraz, they still sell scarfs and hats with images of people skiing on them. How long before anyone even remembers what that is here? But we didn’t let that get us down. The visit from the Lehmans was such a breath of fresh air. I can’t imagine what it was like for Peace Corps Volunteers in the 60s, without blogs, phones, occasional (even if slow) internet, and all the other things we don’t have to do without. Still, it was incredible to be reminded that we’re not as alone as we sometimes feel.  Thank you.

I think that’s about it. As always, feel free to drop a question in the comments, and our address is in the side panel! Send us something! A letter, a Jimmy John’s menu, anything. Send us some pictures of you, and we’ll put them up on our wall. It’s not as good as a visit, but it sure does add some comfort and love to our lives. We miss you all. And here are some pictures from the aforementioned activities:

[Molering and the Lehmans]

Dat Sauce

I definitely owe a longer post than this, however, what with PEPFAR and then the Lehmans visiting and then IST/PDM, I´ve been quite busy. So I´ll take the time now just to mention the most important thing.

1) I regularly have food cravings for all kinds of stuff you just can`t get here (Jimmy Johns, real cookies, deep dish pizza), but none I crave so consistently as some Li´l Porgy´s sauce, and the Lehmans brought us some! Now, eating meat here is always a risky choice, but have you ever tried barbecue sauce on:

 - Bread

 - Ramen

 - Crackers

 - Your Finger

Or lacking those, just squirted straight into your mouth or, if a syringe is handy, injected directly into your bloodstream? Yeah, it´s still good.

Thanks to everyone who has kept us in their prayers, sent us stuff, or written us letters. They keep us going when we can´t do it of our own accord.

Shameless Plug For Donations

Earlier this year we, the 25 or so volunteers in Ancash, did a leadership camp for high school girls, and now we're back at it again with the same for boys. This is a great opportunity, because it brings together youth leaders from all across Ancash, and it also helps to combat machismo, teen pregnancy, and a whole bunch of other stuff that hinders the youth of Peru. If you'd like to help out, the donate link is below. (We promise not to do this too frequently.)

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-527-025

Lagunas!

This is the same link from the last post, but, as we´ve added pictures from hikes up to two additional lakes, we figured it was worth a repost.

[LAGUNAS]

A Nice Day For Ahuac

This past Sunday we finally found the time to hike up to the lagoon above our site, Ahuac/Awak/Aguak. (Pronounced more or less like “a walk” – get it?) We’d been told it’s around a four hour hike to get there, so we made sure to get an early start. Of course, the week prior Menda planted her vivero (tree nursery), which ideally should be watered multiple times a day until the seeds sprout, so first we had to walk down to Jinua. We finally set out for the lagoon a little after seven in the morning with two other volunteers who had stuck around after the regional meeting the day before. It’s about a forty minute hike up to the cross (of which we’ve previously posted pictures) and from there a fairly level walk... for the next 15 or 20 minutes, after which it’s straight uphill for the next three and a half hours. From our house to the lagoon we hiked about seven kilometers total and gained a total of 1300 meters in altitude. It took us just over four and a half hours, including many breaks for water, snacks, and a little much needed recovery for our lungs. We got there, and while our courage was still sufficiently high, Menda and I swam in the snow and ice fed lagoon (my second polar plunge). We then feasted on PB&Js, mandarin oranges, animal crackers, and cookies – chocolate mint by the way. After sitting around for a bit, we headed back down, moving much faster and taking fewer breaks. It’s easier to lose your balance when going downhill, but the increased oxygen intake as you move lower and lower makes you feel invincible – until you fall, that is.

[PICTURES]

As a side note, the next day is when I usually work in the health post and Menda teaches environmental classes in Jinua. I debated not going, because I was more than a little bit tired the next morning but finally settled on it, because A) I usually just sit at a desk and help with consultations for babies and B) I needed to invite the boss to a conference on HIV/AIDS. I got the invitation to him, but we’re in the middle of a week during which health post staff go door to door seeing if all the children and elderly are up to date on their vaccinations, so I ended up walking up and down hills for over five hours the next day. Yeah. It was good exercise at the very least.