Family Visits- Part 2

We finally reached my house.  This part I was most nervous about. Mostly because I knew it would be difficult for my family and my host family to communicate since neither of them knew the other's language.  Also, I was nervous because I knew my host family would be nervous to have my family in the house, as well as there are so many cultural differences I was hoping no one would offend the other.  So after the warm introductions and awkward pauses, I went straight for the ice breaker and brought out all of the toys and gifts my family brought.  Starting with the stove top my parents bought for my host Mom while we were at the market in Piura.  She was thrilled and had it hooked up in time to prepare dinner later  that night.  Next we got into the toys.  The kids were thrilled.  My Mom and I had gone through all the toys in advance while we were in the city and we had a bag prepared for each kid with their name on it.  It seemed that the most popular toys were the babies.  The little girls absolutely loved their baby dolls.  There also was a really excited moment from my 6 year old host nephew about transformer shaped bubbles, he ran into the room holding it up like a prize and screaming for everyone to look.  I think the kids were so overwhelmed with some of the toys they didn't even know what to do with themselves.  My parents had brought babies and barbies, and trucks that made noises and drove, nerf guns, action figues, play doh, games.  So much stuff these kids were in heaven.  I would like to say it was like Christmas, except these kids don't even get gifts on christmas, and they barely get one on their birthdays.  So more then likely it was like nothing they had ever experienced before.  And they were all so excited to see what eachother got.  Even Iker, who is only 11 months old got a brand new truck and he was on the floor playing with that. 

Next, my Mom had brought a few more things for the girls, she brought a bunch of old navy flip flops in all kinds of colors.  So all of my host sisters got those too.  They seemed really excited, especially since they are always trying on my flip flops and saying how comfortable they are. Also, my Mom had brought lots of chocolate, so sitting by the pool the night before in Piura, my Mom, Dad and I put together over 50 bags of chocolate to be passed out in my town during their visit.  My host family probably would have been happy with the chocolate and no more. 

My Mom's buddy Leo came by too.  He is my 3 year old neighbor who doesn't have a mother.  She was only 12 when she had him and left soon after.  My Mom has heard the story and even talked to him on the phone, so she brought some special stuff for him.  Part of it was a plastic rifle that came with a cowboy belt and bandana and a few pairs or clothes.  At first he acted shy, but with time, and in Leo fashion he warmed up quickly.  He showed up first thing the next morning while we were still in bed with his rifle in his hand ready to shoot at us.  It was really cute.  Then, when my Mom gave him his new clothes I put them on him immediatly and he walked around showing everyone his new stuff.  Sadly, his new clothes look just like his old clothes only 2 weeks later....hopefully with a nice wash they will look good again.

After all the gift opening hype, my host Mom served us lunch.  It was a lunch I had never seen before.  The table was set really nice, with the folded cloth napkins and matching tablecloth I had given her when I first came to live there.  And we got the good chicken I never get to eat served realy pretty with rice in the shape of a circle.  After 10 months of living there, I have NEVER seen her put on a show like that.  It was really nice of her to go out of her way to impress my family with all of that.  Later on, I took my family to see the sites of Chipillico. We saw all the places I always talk about, and they got to see a little bit of life in Chipillico, where we wash our clothes, get water, the donkies, the pigs, the goats, everything!  I loved seeing their reaction to all the parts of Chipillico that have become my life and normal to me.

Later on that night, we headed over to BJ's town so they could meet him, as well as see what a Peruvian party is like because BJ's town as celebrating it's anniversary.  I was even surprised to see his town in party mode.  There were all kinds of vendors from all over.  We were there kind of early so not a whole lot of was going on, but there were a good amount of people out.  We even ran into his host Mom who was carrying the prize winning rooster from the cock fight earlier that night.  Alex was really excited to get his picture taken with the rooster.  We ended the night there by showing my family a true peruvian drinking circle, but kept it between us since I didn't think anyone would be too excited about having to share the glass with random strangers. Afterwards, we rode back to my town in the dark in moto taxi's.  My Dad said the bumpy ride was not as romantic as I had made it out to be!

When we got back to my site, we prepared my room for the night.  I had bought air mattresses and we blew them up and Alex and I slept on those on the floor.  My parents hopped in my double size bed, and in the end that left about 2 feet of walking room.  I had told them that for the 2 night we were in my site that we might just have to become a little bit of a closer family and share the little potty they had sent me.  No one was down for peeing in the same room, so at multiple times during the night everyone would get up to use the bathroom outside either alone, or sometimes we went in groups, because usually when one of us got up, we were all up.  At another point during the night, I hear my Dad say "something is crawling one me", next thing I know he is up with a flashlight looking around.  He claims it was a scorpion.....I am no so sure about that!!!

After a pretty sleepless night, we woke up the next morning to begin a full day in my site.  It started off with everyone using my shower, my nice solar shower, they sent me filled with creek water.  No one seemed really excited about that like I was.  I think it was an adjustment for them to be outside with the turkeys and chickens taking a shower.  I thought it was hilarious!!!

Next, my host mom made us a nice bread and fried egg and coffee breakfast, and we hit the town.  First stop was the cementary, where we had a photo shoot with a preganant donkey on top of a gravesite.  Next, we headed towards the center of town where my Mom and Dad snapped a few pictures of a dog eating a pig right there in the middle of town.  Next we started running into my people and passing out candy.  My Dad and Alex nailed the peruvian cheek kiss with all of the women.  I was really proud of them.  We then headed to the health post so they could see where I worked and meet my coworkers.  Everyone again was excited to recieve chocolate.  At the end of the street we stopped off at the school.  I checked to make sure it was okay if we walked around a little, except I didn't expect what happened next.  Little by little the kids and teachers started coming out of the classrooms and windows to take a look at the "gringos" walking around.  Usually I get a little attention when I am there, but it was more so with my Mom and Dad and Alex.  They got to see a few classrooms and take lots of pictures, I just kept handing out the candy to make sure the teacher's didn't mind the disruption too much.  We went to one class and took pictures, and a few minutes later all the students came running out with their tests to take more pictures.  It was so cute.  They absolutely loved seeing my family, and even more they loved having their pictures taken.

Finally, my parents realized we needed to escape because they kids were coming at us from every direction.  It's funny, even though they know my family can't speak spanish, they don't hesistate to talk to them constantly.  My host family did the same thing, even when I wasn't around to translate they would just go talk to my family, and I would walk in and both parties would be looking at eachother confused.  My Dad tried really hard to use hand signals to explain...i am not sure if it worked.

The rest of the day we saw a few more sites, took lots of pictures, and headed back to the house for a real peruvian lunch. I asked my host Mom to cook all my favorites and she did.  They even killed a turkey to celebrate the occasion.  My Mom had witnessed my host Dad sharpening his knife on a rock outside that morning, that same knife was probably used to kill our lunch.  I think this was a first for my family.

The rest of the day we just hung out in front of the house, BJ came by, and many other kids and people, mostly just to look at us.  We pulled out their new candy land to play, and even play doh.  Turns out my host family is incredibly creative and came up with some pretty cool stuff for the play doh.  It was just so great to see them enjoying all their new toys, and it was fun having my family spend time with them too.

  Later that night when it got dark the frogs came out, and my host family is deathly afraid of frogs.  So I had Alex pick up one of the frogs and taught him how to ask my host sister in spanish if she liked it.  So he went into the house with the giant frog and held it to her face and asked in spanish if she liked it.  All she did was scream.  My whole family started running outside and made him put it down and wash his hands right away because they believe it causes warts.  It was probably my favorite part of the visit to my house. 

Overall, that part of the trip went way better then I expected.  My two families not being able to communicate wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was going to be.  It was amazing how much they could both communicate without knowing their languages. My mom was telling at one point in the morning my host Dad waved her over while he was feeding the guinea pigs to show her.  My Mom really liked it and took lots of pictures.  Just everything, they each sensed how happy the other one was, and there was a sense of understanding and affection even though they couldn't speak to eachother.  It was actually a really great experience for me to witness and it made me really happy that my family could be there to share this part of my life with me.  I think it is a memory we will all have forever. 

All in all things were great, but after 2 nights in my site, I was ready to move on and start the real part of the vacation.  The next stop was the beach!!!!!!

"Iraq has got it going on compared to here"...Family visits-PART 1

So the along awaited for vacation with the parents and Alex has come to an end.  It was an absolutely wonderful two weeks, and it took everything in my to not want to run down the terminal in the airport and go back home with them.

I was almost surreal when I hoped on the plane heading for Lima to go meet them.  It had been 10 months since I had seen them.  Although we get to talk all the time, I have never been seperated from my family for that long.  At first when I got to Peru all I wanted was for them to be with me.  However, after 10 months I have established a life here, and it just felt really strange that in a short amount of time they were about to see it and be apart of it. 

I got to Lima much earlier then them, so I checked into the hotel and enjoyed a nice hot shower and some pizza hut while I waited to go back to the airport to pick them up.  Once at the airport I realized it would probably take them awhile to get off the plan and out of customs, it just ended up being much more time then I anticipated.  I was so anxious, and there were so many crowds in the airport waiting for their loved ones too.  Finally after getting pushed further and further away from the ropes, I went to the second floor so I would get a better look when they came through.  The first person I saw was Alex, he had anticipated I would be up there looking down, so I ran to give him a huge hug.  Then my parents came out a few minutes later.  That was a moment I had long awaited for.  Very emotional, but happy emotional.  We had talked about that moment for a really long time.  Then, I noticed the ridiculous amount of luggage they brought.  My Dad had been telling me for weeks how they were planning on packing light.  From what I saw, it was just the opposite!!!!  I knew they brought some things for me, and some things for my host family.  But WOW!

After so much preparing and planning it all seemed to go really well.  I tried to take it easy on them, because I knew there would be point that it became a little more difficult (my site!).  So we spent the first few days at a really nice hotel sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  Lima has become a place I look forward to going too because it's like being back in a little mini-america.  There we are in a city that resembles any other city I have ever visited, with American restaurants, stylish people and all the other small things I sometimes miss about home. We did lots of shopping in the artesians market, and Mom bought everyone she knows a gift.   But I realized, once I was sitting in Chilis with my family eating a hamburger that they didn't come to Peru to do everything they did in America, so after a few days there seeing the sites, I and them were ready to move on.  Plus, Lima is really ugly and cold this time of year, like London, and they didn't come on vacation to wear jackets.

The next part of our big adventure was going to be the overnight bus trip to Piura, this trip can usually be anywhere from 14-16 hours.  I don't have to do it often, but I have become acustomed to traveling this way.  I was really worried about my family doing it, just because I knew they probably wouldn't like it.  So I bought the  best seats the bus line had to offer in hopes I could make them as comfortable as possible.  Fortunately, it worked!  They all absolutely loved the bus ride, they thought it was really cool and much nicer then they expected.  Even more so, my Dad liked that it meant no paying for a hotel or meals for the night because we also got dinner and breakfast on the bus. 

The other part, that I knew would happen was in that overnight bus ride we would quickly leave my little America part of Peru and head out to a place that looked drastically different then they were used to, this part I was most excited for.  In the morning when we woke up, there were no more city buildings, instead we were in Chiclayo, a town in Northern Peru, about 6 hours south of where I live.  The first thing Alex said was how it reminded him of Ramadi, one of the places he visited during his deployments to Iraq.  He said the buildings and the sandy dirty town was identical. 

Once we arrived in Piura after the 16 hour trip, everyone was excited to get off the bus, mostly because after a night of traveling the bathrooms had become really disgusting and my Mom and Dad were grossed out and ready to move on.  The bus station is located on a strip in Piura where there is nothing but bus stations and the market, it is not the safest part of town, and it is definitely farthest from the prettiest part of town.  They said how it reminded them of something they would see on a travel show.  Just pure craziness.  My Mom took lots of pictures while we piled into two tiny taxis headed or our hotel.  All of this was making me nervous. I am so used to doing all of these exact same things alone.  I have gotten accostumed to making sure I keep a close eye on my things and I know the language and feel comfortable enought to get around.  But doing it with people who don't know a word of Spanish and weren't taking me seriously enough on some of the safey issues made me a little nervous.  Same with splitting up in taxi's...I just hoped my Dad and Alex ended up at the same place.  They did, however, they said they believed their taxi driver was yelling about the constuction or something the whole time.

Our stay in Piura city was only for the night, we went and got laundry done, relaxed by the pool, went to one of my favorite spots for dinner.  I even took them to the market, which I think was the most stressful part of the trip for me.  The market is a disgusting dirty place filled with tons and tons of vendors.  At the market you can buy almost anything you could ever even think of.  However the market is dangerous.  I have witnessed a friend get robbed a foot away from me and have had more friends get robbed there, one even had her earrings stolen right out of her ears.  For those reasons, as well as the crowds I just hate being there.  On the other hand, my family loved it!  They loved seeing how it all works and just the craziness of it.  I was able to get them out of there after I took them to the meat section and they saw the many many animals that were gutted and hung all over the place, the smells the flies and all of that made them ready to leave. 

The next morning I knew the "real adventure" was about to begin.  I was going to be taking my family to my site.  Every part of the visiting my site experience is truely an experience.  We first headed over to the bus station.  Normally I might pass on one of the really really nasty buses, especially in the summer when it's really hot, because normally the seats are really small and it's hard to get comfortable when you are crammed into the seat with someone else, and it is kind of a long ride.  But on this particular day, with all of our luggage, there wasn't room to be picky, we took the bus that was waiting.  It was kind of fun, it added more to the experience.  We sat in the back.  My parents were actually in the seat behind Alex and I that fits 5 people because it goes across the entire back of the bus.  My Mom unfortunately was on the end that meant she had to sit next to someone else, and with her luck it was a smelly person.  Alex and I were smooshed into the seat in front of them.  Depending on the day, it can be a 3 hour ride.  However, my family saw how quickly the city of Piura faded into rural towns that all look exactly alike.  Once we reached Las Lomas, we switched all of our luggage into a taxi.  I found a taxi driver who agreed to take the 4 of us an no one else because normally that means one of us would have to share the front seat with someone else, and I don't think anyone was willing to do that. 

The trip to my site is about a 30-45 minute ride, and it's a really really bumpy rocky road.  It was so hilarious having them make the trip with me.  I have gotten so used to it, at points I even fall asleep.  But seeing their expressions reminded me of the first times I had made that trip.  There are parts where the car goes through water and sometimes it even gets into the car, and they worried about it the same way I did my first time around.  Fortunately in all the parts that are the most interesting people were out putting on their usual show.  At the part where the water gets in the car, there was a guy cleaning out his truck engine in his underwear, it was a beautiful day so when we got to the lake it looked amazing, and the taxi drivers always drive like maniacs so they got to experience that too. 

At one point, when we were getting closer into my town, my brother said "Jillian...Iraq has got it going on compared to here", I think that was the most surprising statement of the entire trip.  His deployments in Iraq sounded absolutely horrible.  But he said they had it more together over there.  He said my town looked like it was poorly built and people just throw things together.  He said it looked really really rough.  I was shocked!