Funerals and Fiestas

What a week it has been!  I am sitting in Starbucks for the day just to escape the craziness of my town for a few hours!

On my way back to site this past Monday after a weekend of spanish class and celebrating, I got a text from my site mate BJ who was a few hours ahead of me on the trip.  He was in a taxi heading into our valley with relatives of my host family, they were in town because the sick uncle in my house had passed away the previous day.  I wasn't surprised to get the news because  the past couple weeks had been pretty rough for him.  He had been suffering from some kind of cancer for a long time.  I can't be exactly sure because he NEVER went to the doctor's, but it was pretty evident he was very sick with something.  I believe everyone knew we were in his last days because each day was getting increasingly worse.

So although the news wasn't surprising, I instantly became sick to my stomach.  I knew a little bit about the mourning process in my site, and I think for so long I had been dreading that experience that I became incredibly nervous.  I called up a friend of mine to get advice on escaping, I was really scared to go to my house.  I was almost really sure that I was going to go back and instantly turn around and leave for a few days.  However the closer and closer I got the more disappointed I became with myself.  I am not that type of person.  A dead person is not that scary to me after having worked at the hospital for so long, and I would be a huge jerk to walk away from my family.  So I decided I was going to stick it out.

So from what I do know, normally the body of the deceased lies on a table in the living room for a number of days so people can come and observe.  The part that made me nervous is that the body would be untreated, and right now it is pretty hot during the day and it just kind of grossed me out.  Also, I knew that Peruivans can be very dramatic when faced with a death and I was afraid I was going to be really uncomfortable seeing my family like that.

Well when I got to the house, the body was on our dining room table in the living room.  He was dressed in a traditional blue and white robe, very similar to what a priest wears in church, and there were flowers and candles surrounding him.  There were many people in the living room, but fortunately no one was reacting too crazy, just sitting around chatting.  But as I got closer to my room, I realized there was a ridiculous amount of people in my house, my host family has family all over the country, and they ALL came!!!!!!!  I went to find my host Mom first and she was a little teary, but really more interested in borrowing my air mattresses to accomodate all of the people.  The uncle's children were there.  I have to admit I am a little bitter towards them.  Because the uncle has been living with us for a very long time, and I have only seen his son on 2 occasions totaling a week at the most, and when he is there he does nothing.  And the daughter has been in the house for a few weeks, but she often didn't feel like doing anything for her father and would ask that no one would say her name so he wouldn't know she was there at times. That always made me mad, because my host mom waits on him night and day without ever complaining and I thought having his daughter there would give her a break a little, apparently not.

But of course the 2 children played the biggest victim cards, walking around moping very dramatically, while my poor host mom held herself together and continued to run circles around everyone trying to make sure everything was just right.

Fortunately I got home the evening of the second night, so when I woke up the next morning the body had been chemically treated and put away in the casket. Around noon many people came to the house from all over for the first mass.  My host Mom asked me to take pictures.  Afterwards the casket was carried through the town to the church for a second mass and everyone follows along in the procession.  After a short mass in the church, we paraded back through the town where the school band had joined us and made our way to the cementary.  From the day the uncle died my host Dad had been there trying to prepare a cement tomb, so we worked our  way there.  There was another short mass, and different people said words.  The most touching part was a teacher from the school had come, and remember a time when he was at my host sister's cantina drinking and playing his guitar and the uncle went outside to listen and sang along.  I remember that day when he was out there, and I remembered the song because it was a song he sang everyday many many times, ALWAYS, so it was really sweet.

There was a little window in the casket over his face, so the window was opened and many people came up to pay their final respects and the casket was placed into the tomb and was sealed off and we all went home.  Part of the tradition is that the family prepares meals for the days that the body is in observance and the day of the funeral for all.  So a make-shift kitchen had been set up in our back yard and the neighbors helped my host mom cook in gigantic pots over fire for everyone.  After the funeral the entire town was invited for lunch and I feel like practically the entire town showed up.  I was helping serve food and it felt like it was never ending.

One convienient part of the entire funeral was that the uncle died the sunday before the anniversay of chipillico was taking place.  So all the people who had come to town for the funeral also decided to stay for the party.  And more continued to show up throughout the week.  I believe there were close to 20 people alone staying in my house and then more family spread out between my 2 host sister's houses and one more of our close neighbors.

The town was completely transformed into a huge market, where people came from neighboring cities to sell clothes and stuff.  There were toys for the kids to play on and games.  There were lots of food vendors.  It was just packed full of stuff and people!    I took the kids a few nights and played lots of games.  The loved it!  I also got some really really good grilled chicken which always makes me really excited.

It wasn't really a week of much work because everyone was pretty invested in the party.  Yesterday the last day of the party there was a parade where they had a figure of the patron saint of Piura they paraded through the town. And a huge dance that went on all night long!  I have had little sleep this week, not because I was partying but I could hear everyone else partying.  And when you live in a house made of mud and there are 20 people sleeping there, there isn't much quiet time.

So that has been my week, and why I believed I deserved to escape to some Starbucks today.

One year.....

All I could think about on Friday was how one year on that same date I woke up early in a Holiday Inn in Georgetown to meet my Dad in the lobby with another suitcase for me to take with me later that day to Peru,  in tears.  Not just a few tears a lot of tears.  I hugged my Dad and didn't want him to let go or leave.  It was in those moments that I realized how big the decision I had made to join the peace corps was.  I was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of leaving my family and friends behind and virtually my whole life to spend two years away from them in Peru. 

I don't look back on that day and think how crazy I was for being so upset, I look back on it thinking how much one year in Peru has changed me.  It has made me braver and stronger.  I went from the girl who lived in Maryland her whole life, and the most exotic place she had been was a family vacation in a beautiful resort in Mexico for a week, to the girl who lives in a rural town in northern Peru, where everyone speaks a different language.  Wow!  What a change a year can make! 

I think everyday how welcomed I was into the country, and more importantly into Chipillico.  I love my country, but it is very rare that anyone in the United States would let someone live with them for 2 years or walk into their place of work and try and find ways to help the community.  The people in Chipillico have done this for me.  Along the way they have taught me an amazing amount of things, and  as much as I have patience with the cultural differences I am not used to, they have an amazing amount of patience with me stumbling through the language at times and trying to make changes to their way of living (just trying to help out).   I am also in shock sometimes as to how used to things I have never experienced before in my life.

Above all, one of the most important things that has happened to me is not a thing it's more of people.  I know that I owe a large portion of getting through this experience to the friends that I have made.  Brittany, Aman and BJ are my sanity sometimes.  As much as my family is 100% supportive emotionally and with stuff, my friends here are the ones that "get it", when a peruvian says or does something crazy it's so easy to talk to them and know they will understand, or a meeting or a presentation goes bad, odds are they experienced the same thing in the same week.   Then, when we have the opportunity to get together and be crazy and vent and just have fun it is always more worth it.  And of course having Edgar has changed my experience for the better, I do not know what I do without him as well. 

I think the most important part of finishing up the first year and starting to feel more accomplished.  It has been a year full of trainings and now it is starting to feel like I am completely on my own and making moves to really dive into my own projects.  So it feels good, I am a true volunteer at this point and as difficult as it at times to get things accomplished it is still happening and it makes me really happy.

So here goes year number 2, I can't wait to see what happens, and I look forward to what I will have to write about in these next months!

Almost a year....

Here I am a few days away from marking my year in Peru and still I have those moments where I am in awe of my life here.  It still seems surreal, but incredible.  This past weekend I was with Edgar, he had taken me site seeing a little bit in Peru.  We ended up in this one town where there was a parade and it the music, colors, costumes, smells and everything was amazing.  It was like watching a movie, except I was a part of it.  As we made our way home the sun was setting over the rice fields and I just kept thinking about a year or two ago when I read "Eat, Pray, Love" and was just so envious of an adventure like that.  Here I am living mine, and I have done it for almost a year, and I still have a year left.  Only so much more to look forward too.

After the home invasion a few weeks ago, things have calmed down, but it has been int he back of everyone's heads.  The rumors have also been flying so I am not sure what to believe.  However, September is a busy month with the anniversary of the valley including the schools.  This has got everyone excited and I can definitely feel that something huge it coming.

Me and my host nephew Paul waiting for the contest to begin.

The elementary and preschool queens!

The other day I had the honor of serving as a judge in the "Miss Chipillico" contest.  That was interesting!  There were girls from preschool, elementary and high school in the pageant.  There would be a winner from each part.  I served as a judge alongside the doctor, Miss Las Lomas, and an engineer from Las Lomas as well.  The girls came out in their "sports wear", cutural costumes, and evening attire.  They also had to each answer a question.  I must admit, I was blown away.  These kids acted like they were born to walk the runway.  Even down to the little girls.  They costumes were amazing, and everyone had great answers to their questions.  It was a hard contest to judge.  However, some of the girls made it easy for me to deduct points.  Even though I know skimpy outfits are apart of their culture, I don't agree with little girls looking sexy, so there were minus points on that.  As well as for one girl her came out licking her finger and "dropping it like it's hot", I think she thought it was a music video set.  But I believe the teachers were trying to keep it classy!!!  In the end I was happy with who we choose at winners and very impressed with how much work each girl, as well as the teachers had put into the contest.  However, in true peruvian fashion, they managed to keep an invent that was scheduled to begin at 4:30 going well into the night.  I was asked to present the high school Miss Chipillico, however, at around11pm when the band was playing and everyone was drinking  and no final crowning anywhere in site, I had to quietly sneak out. 

In true fashion of peruvians loving to celebrate everything, we also had a little presentation for the elderly the other day in the health post.  Since I have lots of experience working with this population I took the lead.  It was really fun actually, they were really intersted, more so because 2 of them were going to win a can of ensure at the end of the presentation.  However, this has inspired me to do work with this population, not one of my goals as a volunteer, but I am going to make it a secondary project.  I think it could be really fun, I am thinking about starting a mini exercise class like there used to be when I worked at healthsouth.  I think they would love it!

Full house for the chat.