Well, it's been a great, interesting week here in Peru, so there is a lot to write about! I will do this in two parts, which will hopefully be enough...so yeah, here we go!
Last time I wrote, Erin and I had just finished a lovely week in Lima beginning our work.
So, we had a lovely last Friday night out on the town: we went to a lecture on the mental health of indigenous groups in Peru, which turned out to be nothing about mental health and all about the politics between indigenous groups and the Peruvian government, the history of the relationship between the two, and how development was going to impact indigenous populations. And of course, things in Latin America never start on time (the lecture was slated for 6 and started at around 6:45) and they hardly ever end either (we were there till after 9...). But it was interesting, at least for half of it (the other half of the time was spent writing silly notes to each other). After finally getting away, we had a wonderful sandwich at our favorite place (Miguel Sandwich, which claims that there is no sandwich like it!) and then out to a crazy concert of Los Plug Plug.
Then Saturday, after trying to shake off some tough vesacos, we took a combi (small local bus) two hours out of Lima in search of sun. Instead we ended up in Chosica, searching for a hostel/hotel with a pool (doesn't really exist there), and hanging out in a fairly religious town (you know that it's going to be an interesting vacation when you are in a town with a huge Jesus statue and no schools...). We saw a little festival which featured cute games such as El Juego de Cuey (which involves a live delicacy, a hamster that is featured in many plates and soups) and then we were "healed" in the central park (now I'm back to zero with my sins, yes!). The rest of our trip was spent reading and sleeping and watching movies in Spanish in a cute little hotel. On Sunday we packed up, had some brunch (which is no different than any other meal, basically including some sort of meat with rice), and then headed back to Lima. I then proceeded to get a $12 massage (which was really worth $12. I guess I was just jealous of Noah and the wonderful massages he's getting in Thailand!).
Then we went back to work, really. We were at Cayetano on Monday, getting together our IRB work, intimidating the Ethnics committee...hoping that eventually we could do our studies. Erin discovered an amazing place where all the software you've ever dreamed of is for sale for less than $10! I then spent the evening watching TeleNovelas with Mama Aida, oh how I love my Peruvian family!
Then Tuesday, Erin and I spent a lovely day eating in Barranco, walking on the beach back to Miraflores (snapping some pictures reminiscent of Bay Watch), and having a roof-top class of wine.
Wednesday, we headed over to Canta Gallo for a holiday celebration (I'll have to double check on the title of the fiesta, but I think it was Saint Juan's feria?). There was a lot of interesting things going on, mainly good food, dancing, and fun times. There were also a lot of visitors to Canta Gallo, including a first time delivery of bags of rice and beans to members of the community, a program administered by the government for poor communities. Canta Gallo leaders had been asking for this for a while. Then there were representatives from the INEPA, a part of the Peruvian government that is supposed to work with indigenous groups and help with "development" issues. They asked us to take pictures of them in the community, dressed in their suits. It was very weird, especially when taking into account the fact that there were a lot of deaths in the confrontation between police/government and indigenous protesters that could have probably been avoided with their help. Anyways, on the whole, the day was lots of fun! Also, our good friend Courtney from Seattle swooped in so of course we brought her along. We were so happy to see her!!!
So that's where the week ends, and Joanna's adventure on the road begins!
Some Pictures from the week: first, there is Erin having a great time dancing (she said that she didn't close her mouth once!), the whole gang at Canta Gallo, our bay watch fotos on the beach between Barranco and Miraflores, Erin by the river in Chosica, and Me with Jesus....please don't be offended, we couldn't resist!
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