A lot has happened in the past couple of days. Work ended last week with little incident; the waterline trench was well on its way to completion, and some tiling had begun. We then moved into one of the best weekends of the trip thus far.
Saturday started at 7:00 am when we were picked up by Nancy and Senor Elies (save three group members who were sick), and began one of the most amazing, most uncomfortable bus rides I have ever experienced. We travelled across the Mantaro River Valley, and then ascended an extremely steep, extremely bumpy gravel mountain road. It crisscrossed across the mountain feet as we slowly climbed over a thousand feet. The road was barely wide enough for our small bus, and 95% of the ride involved one side of the road ending in a drop off to valley floor below. Many times there was barely eight inches between the van and certain death (to be dramatic). As harrowing as it was at times, it was also very exciting, and I never once felt in danger. Half way up the road the bus pulled over, and we all filed out to enjoy the phenomenal view (we could see the entire Mantaro River Valley). We stayed for about 30 minutes, took many photos, enjoyed the breathtaking view, and listened to the silence. After that, it was back to more bus riding, which eventually leveled out.
The rest of the day was incredible. We travelled through the mountains and visited about a half dozen small towns. We had the privilege of seeing where Senor Elies grew up, and each small town presented something new and interesting to us. The little towns were amazing, hidden amongst the hills and mountains; it felt very secluded and peaceful. We visited a colonial town where a Spanish church from the 1600’s still stood, and we stopped at another town for one of the best meals we have had yet. The last major stop of the day was at a local dairy farm where we were able to purchase delicious yogurt, and were given a small tutorial on how cheese was made, and the social program the dairy farm had underway. After the dairy farm, it was time to begin the long journey back to Huancayo. By that time in the day everyone was exhausted, so the drive back down the mountain was not as fun as the drive up. We trudged through the doors of our house around 5:30 pm, tired, sore, but altogether still excited about the wonderful day we all had.
Sunday started even earlier than Saturday for a few of us: 5:30. We took taxis to the bus terminal, met Eric there, and hired cars to take us out to La Merced and the jungle. There were only six of us; the rest of the group wanted to sleep in and spend the day at the Sunday market on Huancavelica Avenue. After another crazy drive through the Peruvian countryside, we arrived at the town of La Merced. Once there, we hired a tour guide to take us to the jungle. This was one of my most favourite days of the trip so far. The tour began with swimming in the river underneath a beautiful waterfall. The water was very warm, and we never wanted to leave; it was too much fun. However, our guide had other ideas. After a brief walk and tour of the jungle there, we filed back into our van and headed out to go and catch a ride on a riverboat.
The riverboat was interesting. We got in, put on ridiculous orange life jackets, laughed a ton about that, and then the boat was off. We travelled across the river, then up a little ways, then back down a little ways, and then we docked. It took all of ten minutes. Amusing as that is, it was still a fun ride, and we took lots of pictures. After docked we were herded back to our van and told we were going to visit an “authentic” native village. Instead of authenticity we got a tourist attraction. Upon our arrival, we were garbed in “traditional” clothing, our faces were painted, and we were sat down for a little speech delivered by an elder with a bow and arrow, a parrot, a drum and a rattle. We all thought it was quite hilarious and enjoyed the little speech (which none of us understood). Due to time constraints, we had to leave before the elder’s performance was over. However, that wasn’t until we got to take some pictures of us holding the parrot. Our way back to Huancayo was another long journey, and we didn’t walk through the doors until 9:30 pm. However, we were all still smiles as told the others about our day. Those who remained home had a wonderful day that began with pancakes, involved lots of market purchases, and lots of relaxation. It was a pretty great Sunday for the entire group, regardless of what each person did.
Monday marked the beginning of the end of our work at the project site. The trench was complete, and rubble clean up began. Tuesday was our last official working day. I spent the majority of the day tiling wit h Kelsey, and the others continued the clean up and making sure everything was in order. Wednesday was our last day on the project site. However, it wasn’t spent working. Instead we helped prepare the pacha manka that were going to enjoy with the Arguedianos members. We visited, had refreshments, and engaged in the whole process of the wonderful traditional meal. While everything was cooking, we walked over to a concrete soccer field where the DWC men played the Arguedianos men in an epic soccer match. The girls sat on the sidelines and cheered on our guys. At the end of the 45 minute game, DWC was victorious with a 3-1 win over Arguedianos. It was a great, good-natured came, and everyone was ready to enjoy the pacha manka by the time it was over. The meal was absolutely delicious (especially the umitas for dessert), and we were all groaning with full stomachs by the time it was over.
At 3:00 pm our ride showed up, and we had to go through the difficult process of saying goodbye to the jobsite, our ever present site dog Snickers, and all the wonderful people we have met and come to love here in Huancayo. It was a bittersweet affair. While we are all excited about our cultural tour, and eventually making it back to Canada, we weren’t all ready to leave the project behind. We have all had such a wonderful experience, and it is astonishing how the time has flown by. With our last farewells to everyone, we piled into our work bus one last time, and went home.
Here we come Machu Picchu.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Students in Peru: Another Perspective
After travelling from Vancouver to Lima the previous day, I woke up on Sunday morning to make the final leg of the trip to Huancayo. It was going to be an 8 hour bus ride, and having never been somewhere like Peru, I had no idea what to expect. All I had to go on was a friend of mine who had told me horror stories about his travels though Central America, where he would have to ride rickety buses that were absolutely packed with people—and chickens.
I was quite shocked, then, when I boarded a beautiful double decker bus that put Greyhounds to shame. Not only that, but the ride to Huancayo was absolutely gorgeous; having only seen a small, dirty part of the heavily urbanized Lima, I was all the more blown away by Peru’s picturesque landscapes and the many quaint villages that we would pass by. After 8 hours of seeing the country, sleeping, and battling altitude sickness, I was finally finished traveling and could begin my time in Huancayo.
The house that me and the 11 other people (or gringos, as I would soon learn we would be called) along on the trip was also a pleasant surprise. It had all the necessities, like good beds, a kitchen, a shower, and even a TV! Now, don’t get me wrong—it still took some time to adjust. The stove didn’t work quite perfectly (I’m not saying I’ve been expecting the house to explode from a gas leak, but you never know), the shower electrocutes you a little when you touch the shower head, and, of course, all the channels on the TV are in Spanish. Oh, and apparently in Peru you can’t flush your toilet paper down the toilet, you have to throw it in the garbage. As awful as that sounded to me, it really hasn’t been that bad. You just have to make sure not to accidentally drop anything in the garbage, because fishing it out is not an option.
The next morning, Monday, we went to work and I got to see the actual project that we came to work on. It’s a school that’s being built for children who are forced to drop out of school because they need to start working to help support their families. This school has a flexible schedule, and teaches kids skills that will directly help them in getting a good job. The work itself has been pretty standard stuff, but it’s pretty cool to think about how much this facility is going to help children who would otherwise be trapped in poverty with no way to improve their situation.
While the work we do is mostly things like painting and digging holes, are weekdays are anything but boring; incidents such as the “dog-napping incident” keep things very interesting. Basically what happened there was the guy who drives us to and from work in a little bus/huge van, was accused of stealing someone’s dog one day when he came to pick us up. I believe the exact words of the person who witnessed and reported the incident translated to something like “the van of gringos stole that dog!”
The day of the incident our driver was late, as usual, and in what I imagine was an attempt to make up for his tardiness, he offered Michiah, DWC Team Leader, a bag of oranges. That was nice, but after that he also reached down and pulled up a small white dog and extended that out to Michiah as well. Michiah motioned that he didn’t want it—the oranges were enough. Now, the driver may very well have just been showing us the dog rather than offering it to us as a package deal with the oranges, but due to the language barrier, we may never know for sure. He had to bring the dog back a few days later so that the woman who had had a dog stolen could inspect, and it was apparently not the same dog, ridding our driver of all dog-snatching allegations. Now, if he had stolen the dog, I would assume he would bring a different dog for the lady to inspect, so I still have my suspicions… but I was not in charge of the investigation, so I guess the case is closed.
We don’t do a lot of sitting around here, and we’ve been getting to experience the culture of Peru quite a bit on top of working on the school. The Sunday after I arrived, we went to a traditional Peruvian party (or festival maybe, I’m not sure what to call it… you’ll see why in a minute). It began with us travelling a little way out of the city to a tiny little farming community in the middle of nowhere. Arriving at 11 am, we were handed beers, and a fairly large band—maybe 25 people—started to play. It was a mobile band, with trumpets, saxophones, and drums, and they then led us to a second location, where we were served “breakfast.” The meal was some sort of soup, with what I was told was corn (but it was nothing like the corn I’m used to) and meat. I have to say, I thought it was awful. The “corn” was very strange, and the meat was suspect at best. Having said that, I was very happy to be able to try it; it did not taste good, but I guarantee you will never have the chance to try that dish in Canada.
Next came the really cool part of the day. We were led, again by the band, to another location where some of the locals cut down two large trees. We proceeded to carry the trees on our shoulders to yet another location—that seemed very far, but probably only because we were carrying giant trees—and managed to stick them in holes in the ground, standing them up again. Before we stood them up, the tops of the trees were decorated with balloons and blankets, and then we danced around them for quite a while. I will tell you this: you haven’t lived until you’ve danced with a 70 year old drunk Peruvian woman around decorated trees.
Finally we were led to a final location to have dinner. Unlike breakfast, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. It was beans, meat, potatoes, and tamales prepared in underground fire pits. I couldn’t tell exactly how it worked, but it was a big pit in the ground filled with hot coals that cooked the food over a long period of time. It was a long day packed with things I had never done before, and it was easily the coolest experience I’ve had in a long time.
Volunteer Participant
DWC - UBC 2009
I was quite shocked, then, when I boarded a beautiful double decker bus that put Greyhounds to shame. Not only that, but the ride to Huancayo was absolutely gorgeous; having only seen a small, dirty part of the heavily urbanized Lima, I was all the more blown away by Peru’s picturesque landscapes and the many quaint villages that we would pass by. After 8 hours of seeing the country, sleeping, and battling altitude sickness, I was finally finished traveling and could begin my time in Huancayo.
The house that me and the 11 other people (or gringos, as I would soon learn we would be called) along on the trip was also a pleasant surprise. It had all the necessities, like good beds, a kitchen, a shower, and even a TV! Now, don’t get me wrong—it still took some time to adjust. The stove didn’t work quite perfectly (I’m not saying I’ve been expecting the house to explode from a gas leak, but you never know), the shower electrocutes you a little when you touch the shower head, and, of course, all the channels on the TV are in Spanish. Oh, and apparently in Peru you can’t flush your toilet paper down the toilet, you have to throw it in the garbage. As awful as that sounded to me, it really hasn’t been that bad. You just have to make sure not to accidentally drop anything in the garbage, because fishing it out is not an option.
The next morning, Monday, we went to work and I got to see the actual project that we came to work on. It’s a school that’s being built for children who are forced to drop out of school because they need to start working to help support their families. This school has a flexible schedule, and teaches kids skills that will directly help them in getting a good job. The work itself has been pretty standard stuff, but it’s pretty cool to think about how much this facility is going to help children who would otherwise be trapped in poverty with no way to improve their situation.
While the work we do is mostly things like painting and digging holes, are weekdays are anything but boring; incidents such as the “dog-napping incident” keep things very interesting. Basically what happened there was the guy who drives us to and from work in a little bus/huge van, was accused of stealing someone’s dog one day when he came to pick us up. I believe the exact words of the person who witnessed and reported the incident translated to something like “the van of gringos stole that dog!”
The day of the incident our driver was late, as usual, and in what I imagine was an attempt to make up for his tardiness, he offered Michiah, DWC Team Leader, a bag of oranges. That was nice, but after that he also reached down and pulled up a small white dog and extended that out to Michiah as well. Michiah motioned that he didn’t want it—the oranges were enough. Now, the driver may very well have just been showing us the dog rather than offering it to us as a package deal with the oranges, but due to the language barrier, we may never know for sure. He had to bring the dog back a few days later so that the woman who had had a dog stolen could inspect, and it was apparently not the same dog, ridding our driver of all dog-snatching allegations. Now, if he had stolen the dog, I would assume he would bring a different dog for the lady to inspect, so I still have my suspicions… but I was not in charge of the investigation, so I guess the case is closed.
We don’t do a lot of sitting around here, and we’ve been getting to experience the culture of Peru quite a bit on top of working on the school. The Sunday after I arrived, we went to a traditional Peruvian party (or festival maybe, I’m not sure what to call it… you’ll see why in a minute). It began with us travelling a little way out of the city to a tiny little farming community in the middle of nowhere. Arriving at 11 am, we were handed beers, and a fairly large band—maybe 25 people—started to play. It was a mobile band, with trumpets, saxophones, and drums, and they then led us to a second location, where we were served “breakfast.” The meal was some sort of soup, with what I was told was corn (but it was nothing like the corn I’m used to) and meat. I have to say, I thought it was awful. The “corn” was very strange, and the meat was suspect at best. Having said that, I was very happy to be able to try it; it did not taste good, but I guarantee you will never have the chance to try that dish in Canada.
Next came the really cool part of the day. We were led, again by the band, to another location where some of the locals cut down two large trees. We proceeded to carry the trees on our shoulders to yet another location—that seemed very far, but probably only because we were carrying giant trees—and managed to stick them in holes in the ground, standing them up again. Before we stood them up, the tops of the trees were decorated with balloons and blankets, and then we danced around them for quite a while. I will tell you this: you haven’t lived until you’ve danced with a 70 year old drunk Peruvian woman around decorated trees.
Finally we were led to a final location to have dinner. Unlike breakfast, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. It was beans, meat, potatoes, and tamales prepared in underground fire pits. I couldn’t tell exactly how it worked, but it was a big pit in the ground filled with hot coals that cooked the food over a long period of time. It was a long day packed with things I had never done before, and it was easily the coolest experience I’ve had in a long time.
Volunteer Participant
DWC - UBC 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The first six day in Peru!
On May 18th, ten of the twelve group members met up in Lima. Michiah, our Developing World Connections Team Leader, met most of us at the airport and took us back to the hostel we were staying at for the night. There, we met the other members for the first time over a traditional Peruvian supper of Domino's pizza and water. After much talk and laughter, we all branched off to our rooms to shower and go to bed. At 6 in the morning the next day, we hopped into some taxis for a short ride through Lima to the bus station, where we would embark on an 8 hour trip through the Andes to Huancayo. The trip was amazing. We ascended up to 15,000 feet at the highest point, and were able to look out at some incredible scenery.
When we finally arrived in Huancayo, we were met by three very gracious, very excited members of our host organization. They took us to the house where we are staying for the duration of our project. It is a very neat house, and was fully stocked and prepared for us by our wonderful hosts (including new beds, blankets, and pillows). However, there was one small problem being a lack of running water for the majority of the day, and cold water if it was flowing. While our wonderful hosts have taken care of that at this point, it did add a certain exclamation point to the fact that we are in Peru. It helped to put us at ease in a way, to prepare ourselves for the suspension of some of the comforts we are used to. After getting our things organized, our guide Eric showed us how to get to the supermarket so that we could make use of our fridge.
Our first full day in Huancayo, Wednesday the 20th, Eric took us on a stroll through downtown Huancayo, and pointed out some of the more interesting facets of the city. Very cool. It ended up being a lengthly walk, and by the time we got home, were were all very hungry and tired, some of us feeling the altitude more than others. Dinner was followed by some quality group bonding, and an early to bed; Thursday would be our first day on the job site.
Thursday the 21st was started with much excitement. We were all very anxious to see what we would be working on, and to get started. At 8:30am we left our nice little home and headed out. When we arrived at the site we were put to work sanding and plastering the 2 buildings at the site in order to get them ready to paint. We were a very industrious group, and by 2:00pm, we had completed our day's work. With an hour to kill, we decided to explore the neighbourhood surrounding the job site.
Friday the 22nd: painting day. Our group was ready to get truly dirty with some serious painting. The day flew by, and everyone was in high spirits. Nevertheless, by the end of the day everyone was a little weary (in a good way), and we all needed a shower and a nice meal. Both were delivered.
On Saturday we all had a nice slow morning, and sat out on our rooftop patio to catch some sunlight. Some girls went into town to do some laundry, and the rest of us puttered around the house. At 3:00 pm, a guide came to pick 7 of us up to take us to Torre Torre (the Towers), natural geological formations minutes from our house. They were amazing, and we spent a few hours hiking and enjoying the beautiful view of the city of Huancayo and the the rest of the river valley. Our guide then took us through the local neighbourhood, a more impoverished part of town, and we got to enjoy some of the sights. The children were particularly amusing, yelling "Gringos! Gringos!" when they saw us, smiling, laughing, and running around. The adults were also pleased to greet us as we passed by. The whole excursion was extremely rewarding. When we arrived home at 6:30, we found our remaining housemates to be very relaxed and pleased with their own afternoon, where they caught up on some sleep. It was a really good day for everyone, topped with a delicious supper and lots of laughs.
Until next time!
-Developing World Connections Student Volunteer 2009
Alix Stupich
When we finally arrived in Huancayo, we were met by three very gracious, very excited members of our host organization. They took us to the house where we are staying for the duration of our project. It is a very neat house, and was fully stocked and prepared for us by our wonderful hosts (including new beds, blankets, and pillows). However, there was one small problem being a lack of running water for the majority of the day, and cold water if it was flowing. While our wonderful hosts have taken care of that at this point, it did add a certain exclamation point to the fact that we are in Peru. It helped to put us at ease in a way, to prepare ourselves for the suspension of some of the comforts we are used to. After getting our things organized, our guide Eric showed us how to get to the supermarket so that we could make use of our fridge.
Our first full day in Huancayo, Wednesday the 20th, Eric took us on a stroll through downtown Huancayo, and pointed out some of the more interesting facets of the city. Very cool. It ended up being a lengthly walk, and by the time we got home, were were all very hungry and tired, some of us feeling the altitude more than others. Dinner was followed by some quality group bonding, and an early to bed; Thursday would be our first day on the job site.
Thursday the 21st was started with much excitement. We were all very anxious to see what we would be working on, and to get started. At 8:30am we left our nice little home and headed out. When we arrived at the site we were put to work sanding and plastering the 2 buildings at the site in order to get them ready to paint. We were a very industrious group, and by 2:00pm, we had completed our day's work. With an hour to kill, we decided to explore the neighbourhood surrounding the job site.
Friday the 22nd: painting day. Our group was ready to get truly dirty with some serious painting. The day flew by, and everyone was in high spirits. Nevertheless, by the end of the day everyone was a little weary (in a good way), and we all needed a shower and a nice meal. Both were delivered.
On Saturday we all had a nice slow morning, and sat out on our rooftop patio to catch some sunlight. Some girls went into town to do some laundry, and the rest of us puttered around the house. At 3:00 pm, a guide came to pick 7 of us up to take us to Torre Torre (the Towers), natural geological formations minutes from our house. They were amazing, and we spent a few hours hiking and enjoying the beautiful view of the city of Huancayo and the the rest of the river valley. Our guide then took us through the local neighbourhood, a more impoverished part of town, and we got to enjoy some of the sights. The children were particularly amusing, yelling "Gringos! Gringos!" when they saw us, smiling, laughing, and running around. The adults were also pleased to greet us as we passed by. The whole excursion was extremely rewarding. When we arrived home at 6:30, we found our remaining housemates to be very relaxed and pleased with their own afternoon, where they caught up on some sleep. It was a really good day for everyone, topped with a delicious supper and lots of laughs.
Until next time!
-Developing World Connections Student Volunteer 2009
Alix Stupich
Monday, April 20, 2009
PERU: Final Entry
Ultimo el Blogo for April 18, 2009
We did it! The school isn’t finished by any means, but in our two weeks in Huancayo, we got a lot done! On our last day our Contractor, Allahandro, brought in a small cement mixer, mucho 45 kilo bags of cement, a dump truck load of true gravel and some workers who know how to handle cement. We got to work making concrete while some of our team members touched up the painting we had done earlier to the upstairs classrooms. Rotary President Sean McKenna, his wife Jennifer and Dr. Ben Anders went with Violeta, our super helpful Arguedianos contact to pick up and deliver the six white boards, markers and coloured chalk for the three schools we visited. They reported shock on the faces of each Principal at the generosity of our group. They graciously accepted our gifts and it is truly gratifying to know that we have improved the learning environments for mucho, mucho children!
Back to the concrete making!! Here’s a recipe for you do-it- your-selfers: 45 shovelfuls of gravel, of 45 kilo bag of cement, a container or so of water from the 5 litre old vegetable oil can with a handle welded onto it (hey, whatever works!) Put this all into the cement mixer, mix and then pour into wheel barrows, then walk the w.b.’s into the Admin Building and pour out the concrete! Well, two hours and twenty minutes later, we had some tired team members, seemingly unfettered cement workers and a beautiful cement floor for the Admin building! I have to say, we were all proud of ourselves. I think we surprised our hosts with our very strong work ethic and determination!
With our work at the site completed we shared hugs and congratulations with the one another and our now “amigo” workers!!! It was an emotional, joyous moment none of us will soon forget!
On Friday night, we were treated to another example of Peruvian culture. Our friends from the Rotary Club of Huancayo hosted a marvelous dinner at Past President Juan’s beautiful home. We were entertained by a delightful trio who sung traditional Peruvian songs in a very passionate way. At this point, we all agreed, it would be nice if Canada could adopt some of the passion this country exhibits so freely. We don’t shake hands, we hug and kiss on the cheek to say hello and good bye. We dance because the music is so inviting! We ate Peruvian favourites, drank sweet Peruvian wine (everything can’t be perfect) and danced with our Rotary Amigos and Amigas! It really was a delightful evening that again, we will not forget!
It’s Saturday and we are on a bus on the way back to Lima (ahh…sea level)! It has been great sending these blogs but like our work on the site, we are finito!
See you all back in Kamloops!
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
We did it! The school isn’t finished by any means, but in our two weeks in Huancayo, we got a lot done! On our last day our Contractor, Allahandro, brought in a small cement mixer, mucho 45 kilo bags of cement, a dump truck load of true gravel and some workers who know how to handle cement. We got to work making concrete while some of our team members touched up the painting we had done earlier to the upstairs classrooms. Rotary President Sean McKenna, his wife Jennifer and Dr. Ben Anders went with Violeta, our super helpful Arguedianos contact to pick up and deliver the six white boards, markers and coloured chalk for the three schools we visited. They reported shock on the faces of each Principal at the generosity of our group. They graciously accepted our gifts and it is truly gratifying to know that we have improved the learning environments for mucho, mucho children!
Back to the concrete making!! Here’s a recipe for you do-it- your-selfers: 45 shovelfuls of gravel, of 45 kilo bag of cement, a container or so of water from the 5 litre old vegetable oil can with a handle welded onto it (hey, whatever works!) Put this all into the cement mixer, mix and then pour into wheel barrows, then walk the w.b.’s into the Admin Building and pour out the concrete! Well, two hours and twenty minutes later, we had some tired team members, seemingly unfettered cement workers and a beautiful cement floor for the Admin building! I have to say, we were all proud of ourselves. I think we surprised our hosts with our very strong work ethic and determination!
With our work at the site completed we shared hugs and congratulations with the one another and our now “amigo” workers!!! It was an emotional, joyous moment none of us will soon forget!
On Friday night, we were treated to another example of Peruvian culture. Our friends from the Rotary Club of Huancayo hosted a marvelous dinner at Past President Juan’s beautiful home. We were entertained by a delightful trio who sung traditional Peruvian songs in a very passionate way. At this point, we all agreed, it would be nice if Canada could adopt some of the passion this country exhibits so freely. We don’t shake hands, we hug and kiss on the cheek to say hello and good bye. We dance because the music is so inviting! We ate Peruvian favourites, drank sweet Peruvian wine (everything can’t be perfect) and danced with our Rotary Amigos and Amigas! It really was a delightful evening that again, we will not forget!
It’s Saturday and we are on a bus on the way back to Lima (ahh…sea level)! It has been great sending these blogs but like our work on the site, we are finito!
See you all back in Kamloops!
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Peruvian Smiles, Gravel, and Pancamacha
April 16, 2009
It’s been four days since we last wrote. And boy, what a four days we’ve had! Two new members arrived and have helped immediately. We’ve been working very hard and have finished painting the upstairs classrooms. Next, we cleaned out the floor of the Administration building and then a big Dump Truck dumped a full load of what some might call gravel, but gravel with grandé rocks is what we called it! Our job was to transfer this gravel onto the very rough floor of the Admin Building. Our Contractor told us afterwards, this should take two days but we did in one hard day! The next day they brought in a tamper and we flattened the rough gravel. Pretty tough work but we got it done! At the same time, half our members finished cutting lines in the paint to truly finish the classrooms.
All this week, we have had visits from the delightful children who live next door. Both Anette and her brother Beckham (yes named after soccer hero) brighten our day each day with a visit including hugs, “Buenos Dias” and a huge smile. Certainly helps keep us going! This leads onto the very pleasant part of our week: visiting the young children in their schools! What a treat for us all to see the children and see their smiling faces! It’s amazing to us to see the conditions they are taught in and the contentment in their eyes and the gratitude they showed us! This is what these trips are all about! With money we raised at Rotary Daybreak, we are buying white boards (2 for each) markers and coloured chalk (yes, they only have white). This will be delivered on Friday before we leave!
On a very pleasant note, we took in some local culture when the Arguedianos (the local group we work with) prepared a traditional festival meal for us-called Pancamacha! This is a meal dated back to the Inca days and it involves roasting of rocks for many hours over a big campfire. After many ours, you take of the rocks, empty the ashes and then put in the pit the following: sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole chickens, pork, sheep (lamb) broad beans and corn tamales with sweet corm meal. Then the red hot rocks are put back on top followed by burlap sacks, plastic and then completely buried with earth. 45 minutes later, we were served a delicious roasted meal that we all loved, if if it was way too much food! Our hosts were so gracious and very hospitable! It really was a great cultural experience!
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
It’s been four days since we last wrote. And boy, what a four days we’ve had! Two new members arrived and have helped immediately. We’ve been working very hard and have finished painting the upstairs classrooms. Next, we cleaned out the floor of the Administration building and then a big Dump Truck dumped a full load of what some might call gravel, but gravel with grandé rocks is what we called it! Our job was to transfer this gravel onto the very rough floor of the Admin Building. Our Contractor told us afterwards, this should take two days but we did in one hard day! The next day they brought in a tamper and we flattened the rough gravel. Pretty tough work but we got it done! At the same time, half our members finished cutting lines in the paint to truly finish the classrooms.
All this week, we have had visits from the delightful children who live next door. Both Anette and her brother Beckham (yes named after soccer hero) brighten our day each day with a visit including hugs, “Buenos Dias” and a huge smile. Certainly helps keep us going! This leads onto the very pleasant part of our week: visiting the young children in their schools! What a treat for us all to see the children and see their smiling faces! It’s amazing to us to see the conditions they are taught in and the contentment in their eyes and the gratitude they showed us! This is what these trips are all about! With money we raised at Rotary Daybreak, we are buying white boards (2 for each) markers and coloured chalk (yes, they only have white). This will be delivered on Friday before we leave!
On a very pleasant note, we took in some local culture when the Arguedianos (the local group we work with) prepared a traditional festival meal for us-called Pancamacha! This is a meal dated back to the Inca days and it involves roasting of rocks for many hours over a big campfire. After many ours, you take of the rocks, empty the ashes and then put in the pit the following: sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole chickens, pork, sheep (lamb) broad beans and corn tamales with sweet corm meal. Then the red hot rocks are put back on top followed by burlap sacks, plastic and then completely buried with earth. 45 minutes later, we were served a delicious roasted meal that we all loved, if if it was way too much food! Our hosts were so gracious and very hospitable! It really was a great cultural experience!
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Monday, April 13, 2009
PERU: April 12, 2009
With one week behind us, a full weekend of Easter festivities, and three tours of the Huancayo district, we feel like we are a lot more in tune with Peru, Huancayo and it’s people. Talking about Easter festivities, we saw some great floral displays, busy, busy public markets, and a moving reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ. Not only was this moving, we all had to hike up close to 1,000 ft. to witness this. It took place in the town of Concepcion and was deeply spiritual to many of the locals. Many of us have had a bout of Montezuma’s Revenge (locally referred to as the Peruvian two-step). One of our members has had a particularly hard time of it as he has been down for three days.
In our tours, we climbed many, many steps and got to great vantage points. We could really feel the altitude and the thinness of the air. We saw a beautiful, fertile valley below us; amazing when you realize this is all growing at 10,500 ft. It really was worth the hike up (Peruvian Two-Step notwithstanding)! The weather has been on again off again, but when it is on, you realize you are 11 degrees south of the equator. But when it’s cool, it is cool-36 F last night. Finally our Rotary friends took us touring today and we saw some beautiful gardens, spectacular stone structures and visited a unique village with high spirits and ate Rainbow Trout for lunch.
Our last two team members arrive tonight so as of tomorrow, we will have a full team raring to go! We will have the building painted, ready for the next stage by weeks end.
That’s all for now.
Regards
Jaimie and Tom
Thursday, April 9, 2009
PERU: On the Project Site
We have spent two days at the worksite and we have accomplished the following: sanded the cement walls and ceilings, then applied cement filler to patch any cracks or blemishes. Then we applied two coats of primer and it is starting to take shape! We need to fill in any new cracks that appeared after the primer. It will probably need a couple more coats to finish it off. On to anecdotal stuff: Grant almost sanded a scorpion, which was a little freaky but very interesting. Sean McKenna has taken strong liking to the three dogs of the camp. The one he favours the most, the rest of us question if it really is a dog or some alien creature (ugly pictures to follow-of the dog as well). We have had visits at the worksite from the young children who were here last year. Tom remembers them and they certainly remembered Tom (very cute-the kids; not Tom)! The local NGO and our local contractor have been just excellent thus far and we really look forward to working with them for the remainder of this project. As we now have two days under our belt, our initial fears for the weaker sex have proven to be unfounded. The men are working just fine!
One thing that certainly is clear to us, is we are working in the real Peru, not some glitzy, touristy area whatsoever. It’s very different from where we live; we may have much more material goods but they live with great passion, friendliness and sense of family. We really feel privileged to offer our help down here.
On Wednesday night we joined the Rotary Club of Huancayo for their dinner meeting. We were treated to a performance by their Junior Symphony Orchestra as well as performances by some of their members with very great talent. We introduced one another with the aid of our young Exchange Student Ailsa Miller who did a great job translating for both sides. We were really proud of her the way she handled the pressure. It was a delightful evening which opened the door to future partnerships with this friendly club.
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
One thing that certainly is clear to us, is we are working in the real Peru, not some glitzy, touristy area whatsoever. It’s very different from where we live; we may have much more material goods but they live with great passion, friendliness and sense of family. We really feel privileged to offer our help down here.
On Wednesday night we joined the Rotary Club of Huancayo for their dinner meeting. We were treated to a performance by their Junior Symphony Orchestra as well as performances by some of their members with very great talent. We introduced one another with the aid of our young Exchange Student Ailsa Miller who did a great job translating for both sides. We were really proud of her the way she handled the pressure. It was a delightful evening which opened the door to future partnerships with this friendly club.
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
PERU: The first several days
We spent one day traveling by air: First flight, Vancouver to LA and second flight, LA to Lima, Peru. The airlines weren’t exactly perfect as both The McKennas and the Anders lost one bag each. As of this writing, still no sign of them yet. We were all pretty tired so we slept well.
Day two:
We headed from Lima to Huancayo by bus. We climbed from 125 ft. above sea level to 15,000 ft in less than five hours. Doesn’t feel too good, we can all vouch for that! Luckily, we descended to Huancayo at 10,600 ft. which feels much better! The highways weaving through the mountains were really spectacular (switchbacks which made Duffy Lake Road look like childs play). Highlights of our bus ride include seeing two full moons: the first was a brilliant bright one in the Peruvian night sky; the second was from one of our team members who will remain nameless, right Debra, entered the bathroom pulled down her pants and then, when the bus made a particularly hard corner, came flying out of the door! Like I say, we saw two Full Moons on the trip.
Day three:
Today started with Jaimie claiming he got pick pocketed. After having a “Royal Meltdown” all morning, cancelling all his credit cards, he finally found his wallet which he hid just a little too well. In the afternoon, we met with some local Rotarians and we will go their meeting on Wednesday night!
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
Day two:
We headed from Lima to Huancayo by bus. We climbed from 125 ft. above sea level to 15,000 ft in less than five hours. Doesn’t feel too good, we can all vouch for that! Luckily, we descended to Huancayo at 10,600 ft. which feels much better! The highways weaving through the mountains were really spectacular (switchbacks which made Duffy Lake Road look like childs play). Highlights of our bus ride include seeing two full moons: the first was a brilliant bright one in the Peruvian night sky; the second was from one of our team members who will remain nameless, right Debra, entered the bathroom pulled down her pants and then, when the bus made a particularly hard corner, came flying out of the door! Like I say, we saw two Full Moons on the trip.
Day three:
Today started with Jaimie claiming he got pick pocketed. After having a “Royal Meltdown” all morning, cancelling all his credit cards, he finally found his wallet which he hid just a little too well. In the afternoon, we met with some local Rotarians and we will go their meeting on Wednesday night!
That’s all for now folks. Talk to you again soon.
(Jaimie for…) Tom
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