Gracias Perú Por Todo

Hello friends, and welcome to my final post regarding my Peru trip! There will be more to come at the end of January as I head to Argentina, but until then I’m on a blogging hiatus!

To start, here are a couple of the photos from our trip to the fish market with Percy, the principal of Ramiro Priale.

This is where we work, chopping up the fishies (what place in Canada would let you walk in, pick up a couple of knives, and take a picture with the giant tuna?)

"Para recordar Peru," the woman told us as she handed us these egg sacs from inside the fish, or "In order to remember Peru."

As I mentioned before, the ceviche we ate made me reeeeeally sick so I was in bed for the entire day on Friday and quite out of it. I was hoping to make it to Manolo Castillo to volunteer at their Christmas campaign but still wasn’t feeling great. However, I made it up there for later in the morning to deliver some gifts and donations to the family PSI Peru came to know very well in April/May. Finding their home was interesting and took a bit of luck- I left la C.T. and headed to the City of God market where I caught a combi up toward Pamplona Alta. I told the driver I was looking for Las Gardenias, and when we got up just past the community centre in Torres Mina the driver told me that to get up to Las Gardenias I’d have to get out and climb up. I said OK and hopped out, and luckily just after starting to head in what I thought was the correct general direction a woman stopped me and asked if I was looking for the Christmas campaign. I said yes and she brought me to it, where I started asking some of the people outside if they knew of Nathaly, Mardaly, Jenny and Juan’s family. A couple people asked a couple more and a few minutes later, Nathaly’s mom emerged from the midst of the Christmas campaign and offered to walk me up to their house. We went up there and I was instantly engulfed in giant hugs from all of the kids. They wanted to know where the rest of the group was and most especially where Miss Christina Roussakis was. They call me Jenny’s madrina, or godmother, and Christina the madrina of Nathaly and Mardaly. They invited me into their home and gave me some food and water, and were very, very excited that I had come back. Those of you who have visited their home will be able to understand what an overwhelmingly emotional experience returning was, especially on my own. I opened up the bags of gifts and my heart broke as the kids gasped, incredibly excited at the sight of toothbrushes and bars of hotel soap. I had brought these, some clothes, some stuffed animals and small toys/stickers/crayons for the kids, and a sleeping bag for Jenny, and being able to give them out and know how much it was helping this family was one of the most heartwarming experiences I have had. It’s tough to capture in a blog post, so perhaps I won’t try to and I hope to have the chance to talk to many of you in person about it instead.

While I was there, this family showed me the new roof that they had put on their home with the money the PSI group had left for them, and they showed me the cooking stove we had purchased them and the work they were doing on the walls of their home. One of the mothers (there are several moms/sisters/families living together in this house) took me out back and showed me where they hope to one day expand their home to have a bedroom. I also had a tour of the grandma’s part of the house, and an uncle gave me a small book about an organization working to help persons displaced due to political violence in Peru. This is the reason that this family lives in Manolo Castillo in such poverty- they left their home due to the political violence of The Shining Path during the 80s and 90s in Peru, particularly in small rural villages. After this the kids wanted to record videos on my camera, and then they took me down the road to see the stairs we had built. Unfortunately by this point they had used up all of my camera battery so I couldn’t get a photo but the stairs definitely look well-loved! It was then getting late in the day so I took the kids to a tienda for a treat, and then caught the combi back down to la C.T.

Running into old friends in the shanty town :)

The family and their gifts.

Jenny's new sleeping bag- we're all pretending to be asleep with it but a couple of kids missed the memo.

Later on Saturday was Lizeth’s baby shower. One of Chelo’s brothers told me that they never used to have baby showers in Peru, but it’s an American tradition that has been adopted there. It was strangely like baby showers in Canada, but there was a very odd clown who ran the festivities and would have been terrifying to anyone with even a mild clown phobia. I was still pretty tired from being sick, so I passed out early and I spent most of Sunday working on writing a guide for future volunteers to use to get the most of out their experience. In the afternoon, I skyped with my family as they decorated the Christmas tree, and to my pleasant surprise Victor, Lizeth, and Chelo joined me! They were incredibly interested and it was so fun to sit with them drinking chicha morada while my family at home drank eggnog and put lights on the tree. One of the best parts was the short video my family had made while cutting the tree down from our property, in which my sister played the roles of both herself and of me. I have to say, she nailed my hatred of invasive species and my questionable yet comfortable fashion sense to a T! It was such a lovely afternoon and so touching to share it with both my Canadian and Peruvian families.

Victor, Lizeth, and myself at the baby shower.

Skyping with my Canadian and Peruvian families while they decorate the tree at home!

For the rest of the week I continued to volunteer at Cerrito Azul in the morning and Ramiro Priale in the afternoon. In the evenings I worked on the guides, a bulletin board for Cerrito, and on Chelo’s compost, which was fully finished by Tuesday evening. On Tuesday when I arrived at Ramiro Priale I was met by Gladys, the principal of the elementary part of the school, who invited me along on a field trip to Central Lima to an art gallery. It turned out the that art show was comprised entirely of art created by students at Ramiro Priale and two other public schools in poorer parts of San Juan de Miraflores. It was sponsored and organized by a charitable organization called Aynimundo, and was meant to showcase the work of youth who live in poverty to demonstrate their capabilities and inner world. There was art, dance, and music, as well as drinks and snacks brought out by waiters- all in all, it felt like a “real” art gallery opening and the kids were SO excited to see their work on display! It was a true honor to be there and witness what a difference creative outlets can make in expressing the stories of those who often don’t have a voice.

Jessica working with Paolo on learning to write his name.

The mission statement behind "Mi Mundo Interior."

Some of the children's art work.

A piece of art that I particularly liked.

A music and dance demonstration at the art show.

A bulletin board about compost that I put up in Cerrito Azul. I also left packages of information to be handed out to parents and teachers with instructions for creating a compost in their own home, as well as general information about compost. I spoke with Mariela and she said that a lot parents expressed interest in it! Additionally, several members of Chelo's family plan on building their own composts after seeing hers!

During this week I was also invited to dinner by the parents of a student at Cerrito Azul, Paolo. Paolo’s teacher and parents had dubbed me his madrina and I had said that I would do what I could to provide some support to them through donations. The evening at their home was lovely and I was able to learn much more about them. I learned, for example, that the reason Paolo has problems and is in a school for kids with disabilities is because when he was first-born he got very sick, and the hospital did not take proper care of him. They took so long to bring in a pediatric doctor that Paolo’s high fever caused brain damage. Paolo did not learn to walk until he was 3, is unable to speak, is quite hyper and never stops moving, and has trouble with skills such as writing his name or understanding at a 5 year old level (that’s how old he is). After his disability became apparent, Paolo’s mother took him to physio every day in a combi- about two hours in a combi with a hyperactive little boy. When Paolo grew bigger and was able to run around on his own, she was unable to continue bringing him to physio and enrolled him at Cerrito. Other schools wouldn’t take him because he was unable to go to the bathroom on his own, but he learned to do so after a week at Cerrito. His parents, Mirian and Lizardo, had always intended to move back to the jungle area where Mirian was born, but decided to stay in Lima so that there would be doctors and schools for Paolo. It was obvious from visiting with them that everything they did was for Paolo, and that his health, happiness and well-being was their greatest concern and the reason they worked so hard every day. They were so sweet and lovely and it was such a pleasure to get to know them and see how much they love their son. Thank you to all of my friends and family who donated money toward Paolo’s tuition at Cerrito Azul, and/or gave me some of the donations that I gave to them as gifts! I will be continuing to offer support to this family in the future, so if any of you are interested in giving a donation that will go directly to his mom and dad- this could be money, toys, clothes, gifts for his parents, etc.- please let me know.

Spending the evening with Paolo, Mirian, and Lizardo.

I finished volunteering on Thursday and for my last day at Cerrito Azul I brought in some cookies and small gifts for each of the students in my class. I then attended the last afternoon and Christmas celebration at Ramiro Priale with my class there. We played some games, hung out and chatted, and kicked a soccer ball around (the boys were quite impressed with my skillz). Some moms of the kids in the class made salchipapas, and we ate those and paneton (which Peruvians become OBSESSED with at Christmas!) and had some hot chocolate. The class had also given me letters (one from each child) earlier in the week asking me to be the godmother of their graduation and to return for their graduation to secondary school in 2013. After a few hours of hanging out it was time to go, so with lots of hugs and kisses I headed on my way.

Chelo and I after she helped me to wrap and make bows for these small gifts for my class at Cerrito Azul.

A photo of the girls in my class at Ramiro Priale.

I had my final Spanish class Thursday night (thank you Melissa!) and the next day I took care of a few last-minute things in preparation for my flight home on Sunday, including saying goodbye to vendors at the market that I had come to know. I then returned to the beach where Drew was hurt, just to see it again. I’m not sure what I expected but the beach itself was completely unremarkable and filled with children and families playing in the waves. It was a bit surreal to be sitting there, but good to see it and recognize that there was nothing particularly special about the beach itself, except for what happened there. In fact, if not for not having someone to watch my stuff, I would have gone for a swim myself.

I took a long walk, got some frozen maracuya juice, and called my taxi driver Juan. While waiting, I checked out a hip-hop demonstration/class in Parque Kennedy, and headed back to the house for a special dinner that Chelo had prepared for me. Victor, Lizeth, Chelo and I ate my favorite dish, papas rellinas, together and it was lovely. Paolo’s mom also came by with some Christmas gifts for me, including an awesome t-shirt and hat from Lizardo’s work in the navy, and a beautiful photo album of Paolo.

Hip-hop dancers in Parque Kennedy last Friday.

My beautiful Peruvian family enjoying my favorite dish, Papas Rellinas, together on my second last night!!

My last day, Saturday, could not have been spent in a more perfect manner. I headed out with Victor for the day to check in on various Christmas campaigns happening all over Lima (Victor is in charge of organizing donations for these). It was an adventure in Peruvian transportation and took us all the way from Pamplona Alta to Lurin and back. Along the way, we got some photos developed, had an awesome lunch, and picked up some pisco for me to take home. It was a great day with a great friend and we had lots of opportunities to talk. At the end of the day we grabbed a drink together, and then returned home. I had a lovely nap, visited Mariela and Jorge to say goodbye, and spent my night packing my incredibly overloaded bags. As I packed, Chelo routinely knocked on my door to bring “uno mas regalito” or “one more little gift,” including a birthday gift from Chelo to my mom. Most of the gifts made it into my bag but I did have to turn down the offers of soy sauce, chicken bouillon, a maracuya, Peruvian sausage, two loaves of Paneton, and a bottle of champagne for my dad (I would have loved it but it was my 4th bottle of alcohol and made my bags overweight). Basically anything Chelo owned, food in particular, she tried to send with me to Canada for my family and friends to try. It was really touching and so funny.

On my last day with Victor, he thought it would be really funny to get a photo of me with the police. The police also thought that this was so funny that they had Victor take a photo on their camera too.

Children at a Christmas campaign in Lurin.

A little boy with his gift.

Lots of volunteers working hard to hand out the Christmas gifts to children living in poverty in Lurin.

My last lunch in Peru- Arroz Chaufa on the left, WITH Lomos Saltado with chicken on the right, ALL IN ONE DISH. Amazing.

Having a beer with my Peruvian brother at the end of a long day.

The next morning I flew out, with lots of tears and a giant bag of sandwiches, fruit, and chicha morada from Chelo. My taxi driver and friend, Juan, gave me a gift and dropped me off safely at the airport. I almost missed my connection in Panama but a COPA employee met me at the front of the plane and ran me past the other passengers to get there in time. It was very exciting. On a side note, during take offs I tried listening to The Final Countdown by Europe and it made the plane ride feel much more epic overall! On my flight from Panama to Toronto I sat next to a cool girl named Dawn who is a street performer in Vancouver and who had just finished traveling through 9 countries in South America helping to film a documentary about street performers around the world. It sounds really cool and if you’d like to check it out their website is www.thebuskingproject.com.

I made it back to Pearson right on time, but unfortunately minus my suitcases, which didn’t make my connection. They were finally delivered this afternoon, and luckily still contained the purple corn and aji that Chelo insisted I bring home to take the seeds from and try growing in my garden.

And that, my friends, sums up my adventures in Peru these past two months! It’s great to be home, but it definitely feels strange and I’m experiencing some culture shock. I’m hoping to convince Chelo to come visit my home in Canada soon, partly because she would love it, and partly because I am convinced she and my mother are kindred spirits.

I look forward to seeing many/most of you while I’m in the country and talking about my experiences in person, as well as hearing what you’ve been up to while I’ve been gone! My flight to Buenos Aires is on January 29th, and I’ll be spending my time between home, Guelph, and Toronto until then. If you’re interested in learning more about my sustainability internship, you can check it out here! http://mamaroja.blogspot.com/

Thank you all once again for reading! I’ll continue this in Argentina, and until then a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, etc. to all of you!

Lots of love,

Cassie