mi vida en Lima

It's so hard for me to keep up with these entries because there's always so much going on. I've been in Lima since I went north with Paco, which is nice, but I may be traveling next weekend...either to Arequipa in the south or to Pisco to help build houses for the earthquake victims.

Not this past Sunday but the one before, I went to eat a home-cooked Brazilian lunch at my Brazilian friend Carla's house. Carla is my friend from my Spanish classes. Her father is Peruvian, and she was born in Lima, but moved to Brazil when she was 5 years old. She's staying here in Lima for a while with her father's family. She's a really great person, and her family is incredibly welcoming. We spent the day eating, talking, and dancing. (See my pics!)

I went in one of the safe taxis by myself to her house, and spoke to my taxista, who was very interested in my race like so many people seem to be here in Peru ("Wait, you're from the United States, but you look Asian, is Pollard your husband's last name?, etc...). Anyway, he was telling me about how many people in Peru is of "mixed race." He told me that he has negro, blanco, y indigena (black, white, Indian), and his wife is of Japanese and Chinese ancestry. Thus, his children have something of negro, blanco, indigena, japonesa, china. Just found it an interesting conversation. I've actually had quite a few interesting conversations with my taxi drivers, ranging from race to world politics to food.

I've had many political conversations recently with friends, especially since the extradition of Alberto Fujimori from Chile to Peru. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/world/americas/25peru.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) It's interesting to talk to many people and hear different opinions, but sometimes they are hard to sort through. From what I can gather, politics in Peru is incredibly complicated (I guess politics usually are). It's hard for me to comprehend the situation...Our director, Paco, put it this way...Alan Garcia, who drove the country into the ground economically and was practically useless against the terrorism of Sendero Luminoso, was REELECTED president last year, and Alberto Fujimori, who is responsible for the much better situation that Peru is in today, is being tried for crimes against humanity. More than one person has told me that it would be no surprise if Fujimori were elected president again (he was president for 11 years before Toledo), despite the killings and corruption that occurred during his presidency. In Peru, it's legal to be president for as many terms as he (or she) can get elected; the terms just can't be subsequent. The result, according to Paco, is that politicians are forever politicians, and can never unite to do something good for the country. In addition, as in the case of Garcia's reelection, the population of Peru is forced to choose the lesser of two evils--in this case, worse would have been a man whose politics are along the lines of Chavez. Another point of interest is that voting is obligatory. In Paco's opinion, this creates a lot of problems because a large portion of the population, with little to no access to education, is forced to vote but at the same time vulnerable to the dangerous ideas of politicians.

Everyone I have spoken to (granted my friends come from a particular segment of the population) have told me that in order to "develop," the country needs to be united. If (WHEN!) you come to Peru, you will see signs painted on buildings and walls, "EL PERU AVANZA, NI UN PASO ATRAS" ("Peru advances, not one step back"). One problem, they say, is that Peru is actually three countries, separated geographically, culturally, and socioeconomically--la Costa (the coast, including Lima), the Sierra (the Andes), and la Selva (the jungle). One of my friends from volunteering told me that Peru doesn't have a middle class and that is the problem. I asked Paco about this. He said that Peru does have a middle class, that it shrunk during the times of terrorism and economic crisis, and a new one is emerging. However, the fact that Peru has only one quality newspaper to him is a sign that there isn't a significant middle class.

Add to the situation the recent situation of terrorism by the Sendero Luminoso (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sendero_Luminoso). The Sendero Luminoso was a Maoist guerilla group that terrorized Peru from about 1980-1992, when their leader Abimael Guzman was captured under Fujimori's presidency. (They still exist today but operate in the remote areas where drug trafficking occurs, esp. near the Colombian border.) It's still hard for me to imagine living in such a situation. In Lima (and other parts of Peru), for example, there would be frequent blackouts, when the terrorists would blow up electricity towers. My Brasilian friend, Carla's, cousin was studying law at la Catolica in the 80s...she would have to study by candlelight. You couldn't leave your house in Lima after midnight because the police were ordered to shoot anyone they saw on the streets. If there was an emergency after midnight, you had to carry a white flag with you to stop them from shooting you. No one knew who to trust, and the people, especially the poor, were stuck between the terrorists who tried to convert them and the police who didn't trust them.

Like always, the poor of Peru suffered the most. The Shining Path targeted these groups as potential converts to their philosophy, but if you couldn't be converted then you were worthless and brutally killed. Or they might kill the parents in front of a child. One group in particular, the Ashaninkas, was hit hard by the Shining Path. The Ashaninkas are a group who live in the high jungle. Some estimate that 10% of their population was murdered by the terrorists, and all were affected. Our group from UVa was able to visit Pichanaki and Satipo, where the Ashaninkas live, and speak to some of them and other people affected by the Sendero. Meghan and I were also lucky enough to be invited to the premiere of the film "Ashaninka" this past Tuesday, which was produced with the support of UVa. In any case, I'm amazed that Peru is where it is today after suffering so much violence so recently.

One night I was eating dinner with my friend Raysha from Cusco. I was talking a little bit about September 11th and the Virginia Tech shootings at the same time she was talking about the terrorism of the Shining Path and what her parents have told her and what she remembers as a small child during those times. To us in the United States, the two aforementioned (big word) events were a huge deal (and granted they were), but any time I started to talk about the reaction and fear that we experienced, I had to stop myself because it paled in comparison to what her family and the rest of Peru suffered on a daily basis for 10+ years. Fear of the police or terrorists entering your home, killing your children or your whole family. I just can't imagine.

Recently I've been thinking about the fact that thus far I have mostly been exposed to the richest parts of Lima. I have seen some poorer areas, but I've been mostly confined to the middle and upper class areas--Miraflores, Barranco, Pueblo Libre, San Isidro, etc. But the reality is that 54% of this country is below their poverty line. Of course I have seen the poverty--mothers holding their 2 year old children begging you to buy a 30 cent box of gum, for example. But thus far I haven't been face to face with the kind of poverty I saw on the Haitian border in the Dominican Republic--where children were following us around with their palms out, licking the bottoms of our empty cups of ice cream. But I know it's here. And the truth is that even when you encounter it, you still have no idea...it's impossible to understand as a middle class person from the United States, because even if you lived in that situation for a while, you would always know that if you really needed to, you could have your parents fly you home.

It's also interesting being from the United States, where people always know something about your country, its politics, economy, and society, and usually have a pretty well-defined opinion about them. On another note, a friend from volunteering told us yesterday that he worked in the United States for a summer at a Starbucks. He was asked frequently if he was from Mexico, and after he said he was from Peru, people would say, "oh, Peru, where's that?, can you show me on a map?" Of course, that would NEVER happen to me coming from the U.S. Not sure what I think about it, just something interesting.

Another thing that has been interesting to talk about is conceptions of beauty. In Peru, there is definitely not the pressure to be super thin that there is in the United States. For this and many other reasons, there are (from what my friends have told me), very little cases of anorexia or bulimia in Peru, and you definitely notice that girls my age are not as skinny here as in the U.S. In addition (again from who I've spoken to), there is (according to Raysha) very little suicide or suicide attempts among teenagers as there are in the U.S. Raysha said the only suicides she's heard of in Peru are mothers or fathers who are so poor that they kill themselves and their children so that they don't have to suffer anymore.

I hadn't mentioned earlier, but last week I started volunteering at the Puericultorio Perez Aranibar, which is a home for abandoned, orphaned, and abused children near where I live in Lima. Basically every Saturday the volunteers come and play with the kids and teach them a lesson. It's a lot of fun and the children are adorable. The security is also intense. I had a hard time getting in yesterday because I wasn't on the list. I asked Lucho (a volunteering friend) why the security is so tight, and why they check your trunk when you leave the Puericultorio. Apparently it is because when parents of abused children find out that their kids were taken there, they sometimes come and try to smuggle their children out...In any case, I'm also thinking about volunteering with "ancianos" who have also been abandoned by their families, sort of like Adopt a Grandparent at UVa, but I would have to miss out on the Puericultorio to do so.

On a much much lighter note, on Friday I went with my Brasilian friend Carla to the Museo de Arte in the center of Lima. It was a really nice museum--it had pre-hispanic art through modern art. It was in a beautiful park, Parque de la Exposicion (again, see photos). After that we went to Barranco, which is the bohemian district of Lima. We had a Criolla buffet, which had all of the typical fare of Peru, such as ceviche, anticuchos, aji de gallina (yum), papa rellena (filled potatoes), etc. etc. etc. It was really good, but I'm going to have to lay off on Criolla food for a little while...Friday night we had a girls' night at our friends Melanie (from Canada) and Evelien (from Holland)'s house. It was great--we had a potluck, ate a lot, and had a relaxing night of talking. There were quite a few Peruvian friends there, and they told us a lot about Peruvian politics.

Today I had a field trip for my Ecotourism class. We went to an "albufera" which is sort of like a lagoon, and our assignment is to act as tourist operators and analyze what we would have to do to start an ecotourism business in this area. It was a nice day...the sun came out and now I'm burnt.

Random observation...the McDonald's and KFCs here are so fancy. They have "Chef's specialties," and no dollar menu (!). They're always super big and super clean and are some of the more expensive places to eat. The food tastes the same, though.

OK, I think that's it for now...thanks for reading if you got this far!
:)
S

It's been a while.....

I've been working on this entry for about two weeks. It's time I finish it. This won't be as detailed as I would like...

I went on a trip with my director, Paco, two weeks ago on a Wednesday night. We took a bus to Trujillo, which is a beautiful city about 8 hours north of Lima. That next morning we arrived in Trujillo, found a hotel, and immediately went on two tours--to la huaca de la luna and the city of Chan Chan. Both of these are ruins of the Moche culture, which is a pre-Incan culture. We had a tour guide for both of these tours, and honestly he was pretty bad. But the ruins really are pretty amazing. You can see in my pictures how much of these ruins still remain. Also, Trujillo itself is very beautiful--the plaza de armas and iglesia are gorgeous, and you can feel how much more "tranquilo" it is than Lima.

After spending the night in Trujillo, we took a bus (3 hours) up to Chiclayo. Chiclayo itself is not much of a city, but there are two museums in nearby Ferranafe and Lambayeque. In Ferranafe, there is the museum of Sican, which was a culture after the Moche but before the Incas. In Lambayeque I went to perhaps the best museum I've ever been to in my life, that of the Lord of Sipan. The Lord of Sipan was a ruler of the Moche culture, and the contents of this tomb are spectacular and incredibly well-intact. For example, they had enormous necklaces made out of tiny little shell beads, and these sort of large earrings made of gold with intricate carvings and turqoise accents. Anyway, it was really neat, especially if you like museums.

From Chiclayo we took a 3 hour bus ride to Piura, the town where Paco is from. We had dinner with his sister and her husband, which was really delicious. Her house was beautiful, too. That night we went straight to Colan, which is a tiny fishing town on the coast. It used to be a pretty prosperous, popular resort town, but an El Nino hit hard and practically destroyed it. Paco told me that people set up temporary houses and other buildings but never made them permanent for fear that another El Nino would hit and destroy everything again. You can definitely see the destruction of the buildings from the tide, which reaches to almost the floor of the houses on the coast every morning. We stayed in a little run down hotel on the coast, and the water woke me up at about 5am because it was so close to the floor. The town is incredibly calm, and all you see are fishing boats and families relaxing or playing soccer on the beach. A stone's throw away from the beach it is desert...the one interesting attraction is the first church ever built in Peru is there in Colan (I have a picture of the sign in my picasa photos). There were a few tourists from around Peru staying on the beach, but you won't find Colan in any guidebook.

The reason we went to Colan was that Paco is writing a novel called "El Ultimo Verano en Colan," or The Last Summer in Colan. It's partly about Colan in the future, after it's been hit by another El Nino and global warming...I think it's got a sad ending! Paco has had a very interesting life to say the least, so I know his book will be worth reading! The two of us ate a lot of fresh fish. One night we also ate this HUGE meal of lomo saltado (chopped up beef), rice, fried potatoes, and two tamalitos verdes (a food from the north), and it cost us $2.50 a piece! I couldn't believe it. But the food was great, which makes sense because the north is known for having some of the best food in Peru. At least that's what Paco told me, and he's from Piura. :) After Colan we returned to Piura to eat lunch with Paco's sister again in nearby Catacaos. We had another fantastic meal...ceviche de mero, tamalitos verdes, and a yuca dish. It's funny because most dishes here come with rice and another starch...I haven't eaten so many carbohydrates as I have in the past five weeks here in Peru!

We left Piura at 6:30 pm on Sunday (we spent about a day and a half in Colan), and arrived after a 14 hour bus ride in Lima at 8:30 am. I had class at 9:00 am. It was interesting. But I made it to my first Spanish class, and it was pretty good. We mostly just conversed, which is definitely the most helpful for me at this point. My class has three girls--me, a girl Jin from China, and a girl Carla from Brasil. Our profesora is a very colorful person, but very nice. The class is incredibly informal, but I think I will learn something. The classes are at the Instituto de Idiomas (language institute) of la Catolica, and there are people from all around the world all taking Spanish at the same time and at different levels. It's kind of a neat environment, and it's cool to hear other people's accents. I have to take a micro every morning to school, about half an hour.

la Catolica is such a great environment, and our friends are fantastic. I seriously walked from one building to another on this tiny campus and came across four of my Peruvian friends (granted I was super late to my class as a result, but my professor didn't mind at all...). The university feels so small even though there are more students enrolled here than at UVa. Lunches at Catolica are fantastic--although they always take 2 hours because of the conversations we have. Last Friday our UVa group did a little presentation at the "Global Village" on Virginia. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which I don't really like, and I think it was clear that Peruvians aren't quite as nuts for it as USers who grew up on the stuff. But it was really fun.

I also met a fantastic girl from Brazil in my Spanish class, who is actually half Peruvian and living with her family here. I'm going to go have a Brazilian lunch at her home in about 2 hours. Should be great!

Picture update: I've posted most but not all of my pictures of the north on picasaweb but I haven't added captions yet.

Chao, all!
S