Living it out...

Next month marks my year anniversary in Peru and will thus, be the longest I’ve been away from family and friends. I spent just under a year in New Zealand. However, I did live in Italy for 3 years growing up (’89-’92), so that will still retain the record of amount of time without stepping foot on native soil.

It appears, after speaking with my family the other day that I have taken for granted other’s awareness of how I’m living. Perhaps that is because some of my closer friends when I was in DC were former Peace Corps or individuals who have traveled a bit. Or it might be that my fellow volunteers share similar circumstances and I’ve been here so long that I forget what it’s like to live in the States. Perhaps when people think of Peru they think of llamas (the pic) or Machu Picchu or the exotic Amazon.

My niece seemed flabbergasted when I told her that I did not have a refrigerator. “But how do you keep your things cold?” I replied, “Well, I don’t buy things you need to keep cold.” She then asked, “Well…but do you have a freezer at least?” “Nope, no freezer” (in the DeBerry household, I think my parents have 2 of those big freezers and 3 fridges (with freezers)…yeah, 3 people live there) I would estimate there are 3 fridges in my entire town of about 1,000 people. My niece couldn’t imagine why people wouldn’t want one, so I had to tell her, “It’s not that they do not want one, they can’t afford them…or the electricity to run it.” Plus, the electricity is unreliable anyhow. What does all this mean? Warm beer. Some prefer warm beer, so at restaurants in the main city, you have to let them know you want it cold. (pic: normal sight in the town square: pigs, goats, cows, and sheep. People don't walk dogs here.)

What also got some “eewwwss” was when I said that many Peace Corps volunteers poop in a hole in the ground…though I am lucky enough to have a toilet. I also have a toilet seat…though a toilet seat is so uncommon that when female Peruvians have used my bathroom and the toilet seat was up, they don’t even use it. I base that statement on my experience of going in after and the toilet seat being up. So, either they don’t use it, or I’ve found the perfect women who put the seat back up! (pic: if you want meat, you either kill the animal yourself or buy it like this)

Hot water?…nope! In fact, the water here comes down from the glaciers or melting snow, so it is freezing. My dad asked me if I shower everyday…my response was a laugh. The longest I’ve gone without showering is two weeks. Luckily, in the town near me we can find warm, sometimes hot showers, so about every two weeks or so, I’ll go stay the night. But, usually, I’ll take a shower here once a week…only when the day is at its warmest and I usually use my big pan to heat up water and bring it in the shower with me. The entire time I fantasize about hot tubs. Controlling your breathing is really important.

My kitchen includes a French press, 3 pans, 2 plates, 3 bowls, a knife to cut stuff, a butter knife, 3 forks and 3 spoons. And, I just added to it with a cutting board! Moving up! (that's my kitchen)

No tv, no raido, no internet.

One of the reasons people get so drunk around here is because I don’t think there is not much else to do that they can afford. Hence, they drink a lot and talk about the same things everyday. Mainly, sex. There is a group of guys that hang out on ‘the corner’, and every time I go and hang out with them, it’s the same conversation. Sometimes they ask me about differences between Peru and the US. Or how much my shoes cost, or my watch, or my camera, or my jacket. Then its back to making jokes about sex…with an interruption to say something crude to the girl that walks by.

Life is simple. Simple does not imply unfulfilling though. I’ll leave you with a quote:

“The world was simple – stars in the darkness. Whether it was 1947 B.C. or A.D. suddenly became of no significance. We lived, and that we felt with alert intensity. We realized that life had been full for men before the technical age also – in fact, fuller and richer in many ways than the life of modern man. Time and evolution somehow ceased to exist; all that was real and mattered were the same today as they had always been and would always be. We were swallowed up in the absolute common measure of history – endless unbroken darkness under a swarm of stars.” Kon-Tiki

Love,
Jake

Gringos Saludables

Well, it’s oscar time…and the awards go to…the 11 gringos that live up in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru! Who’d have thought?

In Ancash, we are a humble 11 volunteers. Ancash is a state within Peru, bigger than Massachusetts. About 2 or 3 times a year though, we put together a play about an important topic, always ending with a silly dance. Then, we go on a ‘tour’ and do the play at the schools in our towns. Luckily, although Ancash is relatively big, we live around the mountain range, the Cordillera Blanca and can travel to other's sites within the same day...and during this traveling we're surrounded by beautiful landscapes.

This time we did a ‘sociadrama’ about gender equality. You might hear the word, machismo, from time to time in Latin American culture, which refers to overt and unnecessary masculinity, and with men believing in the superiority of their sex. An example is what every female volunteer has to deal with, which is men whistling and saying inappropriate things to her as she walks by on the street. In our area, it also takes the form that women can’t work on the farms or help with the responsibility of money, they can’t study in school or look after themselves. Men don't cook or care after the children. (that's me making my mountain...and a glimpse of my room)

Hence, our sociadrama was about the topic that women and men are equal. Men are able to cook and help raise the children, while women are just as adept at working on the farm, studying, and helping with the family money.

I was a mountain in the play, full of wisdom and advice…quite appropriate, no? I was a female mountain with a baritone voice, Doña Huandy, which is one of the bigger mountains in this area. The play began with a family discussing which job is more difficult, the men’s or women’s. The brother and sister argue about it, then overnight they change gender to experience the job of the other. After a day of messing up each other’s job, they change back and have a new appreciation for the other’s job and teach their parents that men and women are equal. (in the picture above, we're sleeping in this picture and Puck, the fairy, is trying awaken us to ask if he can switch the genders)

During the play, Frank and I (the mountains) give advice and provide the magic to switch their genders. Our play is made for kids between 8 and 14...though it is appropriate for everyone. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Love,

Jake