June, July and Fiestas Patrias, 2013

Here we are, one year into our Peru experience, and I realize it has been 6 weeks since I wrote very much here. July 28 was Peruvian independence day (Fiestas Patrias), but the whole month is patriotic. Lima flies the colors, red and white, for the whole month...and not just because every house is legally obligated to fly a flag at the end of the month.

Schoolgirls

Cajamarca
At the end of June, Jennifer went for a week to visit some Peace Corps sites in the Cajamarca region. The main town, Cajamarca, is up north at 9,000ft and most famous for being the site where Pizarro ambushed the emperor Atahualpa and set in motion the overthrow of the Inca. Jen just passed through, however, staying for several nights in the smaller towns. The small town of Chota was in the thick of their patron saint's celebration; consequently, Jen got very little sleep as the town band played all night in the plaza and then at daybreak started a parade through the streets. She missed the actual fireworks show, but saw the multi-story tower of sticks erected in preparation for the giant, flaming finale.

Street food (note the woman skinning the guinea pig)

Regional coordinator & volunteer speaking with
a mom.

Jennifer was greatly impacted by the primitive way many people there live. There is plenty of crushing poverty in Lima, but this is another level altogether. Up there, it is a fortunate home that has plenty of guinea pigs (living inside with the family, running free on the dirt floor). Problems start young, babies pitch into malnutrition as soon as they ween because the diet is almost all starch. Children and women develop emphysema because cooking is indoors and unventilated. Even that most picturesque image, the Peruvian mother toting her toddler in the colorful wrap on her back, indicates a damaging lack of stimulation for the kid. Peace Corps tries make a difference early. Offering government stoves (ventilated!) in exchange for visits to the community center where volunteers will give classes or simply play with the kids with bottle caps or something. The area is beautiful; the bucolic fields, the mountains, the community. But it is Poor.








The Hogar out in Chaclacayo

Jen and Carla at the ice cream shop.

Eloy is getting tired of just sitting around all day.

We have now been visiting the Hogar long enough to be regulars. Many people I know recently contributed money for formula (or baby bjorns) and it felt great to be the one able to march in their with a box of goods. Thanks to all of you, it was more than I could carry back from the states and I am ordering more!

Getting to know the kids as individuals has changed the flavor of our visits. A few times, we have taken a couple of kids out on an excursion, seeing what it is like to give a kid a little individual attention. Carla and Christian came out for ice cream, lunch, video games and ice cream again. A week later, Jen took a couple kids to the movies, but the power failed 20 minutes into the film. I let Viktor Huaman (13yr old, club feet) sit on my lap and steer our car; he was so pleased, I am again reminded of how the kids, particularly the older ones, are lacking that person who will take them driving, or show them how to use a power drill, or tell them not to use that whiny voice. The town square out there has been more fun than normal, with bouncy houses and some small rides set up for the patriotic month, with cotton candy for the kids, etc. The only mishap being when Ana banged her leg and then reached down and petulantly pulled off her cast. We are noticeable, what with our Threepenny Opera of wheelchairs and burned kids; townspeople will come up and chit-chat, the carnival guy gave us discounted fares, weekenders shake my hand (Chaclacayo is a close destination for Limeños). It's not all gravy though; we are around enough to have falling outs (e.g. Bryan (9yr old, corrective leg surgeries), is mad at me because I would not let him keep Carter's graphic novel he was reading). And though we have been around enough to see many of the kids improving (Ana's foot is no longer sticking weirdly from her knee! that cleft palate has healed up nicely! Viktor, you're riding a bike!), we also see some of the new arrivals. Kiara is, for lack of a better word, feral. The new baby upstairs is so malnourished that he looks like an old man. The older of two sisters recently arrived is 9, but appears 5 and acts like 2 and has been crying for her mom for a week straight. Her crying stopped long enough for her to enjoy the carnival rides on Saturday, but then she peed her pants and started crying again at the house until the cook walked in and hollered at her (which sounds heartless but, I promise you, was not).

Paddle tennis at Muscle Beach.

Cousins at Judy and John's house.

Los Angeles
Carter and I spent a crazy, busy, wonderful week in LA. We saw plenty of family and friends, with signature experiences like Dodger Stadium, Santa Monica Pier, s'mores in the back yard, a matinee on the Promenade, and plenty more. Carter got to play with his cousins, spend some quality time with his grandparents and I got to see some good friends. Before the trip, I had assumed that I would spend the week wallowing in "how different it all is." But that was weirdly not the case. I did honk at someone like a true Limeño, and I certainly appreciated a good, old American diner breakfast and a good, old SoCal burrito meal.

Dodger Game!