I'll be home for Christmas

It's now December 4th, just over two weeks before I'll be home for Christmas. I'm counting down the days until I leave, instead of 'till Christmas. I'm excited and thrilled to see my family and friends, but at the same time sad to be leaving the life and friends I've made here behind.

It will be very different when I'm home because a lot has changed, including myself. I can't wait to get off the plane in Phoenix and meet my new niece for the very first time and see my sister as a new mom, or see the lights on my brother's house for Christmas and hear my nephew tell me he loves me for the first time in person (when I left he wasn't speaking, and now every time I'm on the phone with my brother he gets on to talk to me). I can't wait to sit with my parents in their family room in front of the Christmas tree and share in new conversations about the experiences I've had (very different from trying to talk at least once a week over skype with its unpredictable connection). And of course I can't wait to see Erin. So much has happened in the past few months since I've last seen her, and although a year has passed since we've lived together and our subtle differences have really developed, we haven't grown apart.

At the same time I'm excited to step off the plane to see my family, I'm also scared to get on that flight. When I told a friend here that I was sad to be leaving, he responded everything has it's end, but I find that hard to accept. Even if you aren't a believer, everything doesn't have an end, evolution tells us that life continues, although changed, and science tells us nothing is ever destroyed or lost.

I think I'll keep that in my mind as I board the plane to fly home, scared of what might come, but confident that nothing ever ends. The experiences I've had here and the friends I've made will always be a part of me, because they've changed me.....just as those few months I spent in El Salvador did two years ago, that experience is still as strong a part of my life as it ever was.

Lots of love,
Katie

To Family and Friends:

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I MISS YOU ALL!

AND I WILL SEE YOU SOON!

Letter to Rotarians

Dear Rotarians,
I've definitely been keeping myself busy as usual! I started helping a professor of mine in her research for the International Labor Organization on Migration Politics, apart from my studies and involvement in Rotaract. At the University I've been specifically focusing on Migration, Development and Globalization in the Master's program for International Relations, so the research was a great opportunity to learn more and put into practice what I had learned from my studies.

A couple of weeks ago I took a trip with a friend of mine to a small city about 8 hours outside of Lima, on the edge of the jungle. In just an 8 hour trip we saw the many different sides of the life and environment in Peru. We passed through the poor outskirt neighborhoods of Lima and climbed to the mining town of Oroya, then descended downhill to the quaint village of Tarma, known for its exportation of flowers until we reached our destination in the jungle, a city bordering the territory of the Ashanti tribe.

Driving to La Merced, following the bends of the river, with impressive views of cascades falling down the green mountains, we listened to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, that revolutionary piece in music bringing instrument and voice together. And we, two very good friends from different nations (once enemies, Germany and the US), reflected on our experiences and Schiller's powerful words stating that in a new age the old ways will no longer divide people and that "all men shall become brothers."

In the face of so much poverty, corruption, and discrimination (which I've definitely witnessed here) rather than feel helpless and give in to pessimism, Rotary reflects that same optimism and takes action. I put a lot of faith in Rotary, its hope for the future and the network of more than 1.2 million members volunteering their time and talent to improve the lives of individuals in their communities and abroad.

I'm excited to come back home, see my family and friends and to share with you all the experiences I've had, but I'm also certain that I will be coming back. There is still much more to learn and work that can be done.

But, I still have 4 more weeks! In the next weeks to come I have my final exams and Rotary is organizing its annual Christmas campaign in which they give treats, toys and entertainment to deserving children. I'll also be helping to organize an activity for several local shelters for children on December 20 (the day before I leave) with the director of the shelter for which I obtained a donation of $1800 earlier in the year.

I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Katie Mills
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar 2007-2008
Rotary International D5500

Where I've been....

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I last posted on my blog! Time flew by quickly.

In September, Ann, Erin and Amanda (Erin's roomate) visted me, and I had the chance to rediscover what I fell in love with in Peru, the rich culture! I took the girls to see the best views of the coastline in the city, try typical dishes (ceviche, causa, papa la huancaina, pollo a la brasa, etc., they say there are more dishes in Peruvian cuisine than there are days in the year!), see the changing of the guards and the catacombs in the historic center, and join in the typical dancing at a show.

We all took a flight to Cusco, and I finally got to visit Machu Pichu! I couldn't leave Peru without having visited their national treasure, and what better way than to follow the ancient Inka trail (the third and fourth day of the hike follow the ancient path, the first two days follow the trail taken by Hiram Bingham, who is known for the scientific discovery of the site....the local people living in villages nearby already knew of the site's existence). It was an incredible experience! Unfortunately I don't have any digital photos from the trip because I lost my camera on my last trip, but I do have one of Erin and I that our friends in the group, Andy and Lisa, took.

After returning from Cusco, I had to really begin focusing on my studies because I had midterms in October, and I was helping a professor of mine in her research for the International Labour Organization. The research, in addition to my studies, are what kept me VERY busy until the end of October, and now things are much more calm as I head into the end of the semester.

In Rotaract, we held our anual Criolla lunch, in which we sold over 80 tickets! Each of us took on the responsability of making a typical Peruvian dish and then we brought everything together for the day of the lunch. I was in charge of the tamales, but luckily I just had to purchase them and then reheat them for the event.....which everyone knows is about the extent of my talent in the kitchen :).

This Sunday I'll be participating with my Rotary club in a ceremony to honor the flag. All of the Rotary and Rotaract clubs in the district will be attending the event.

I promise I'll write again soon!

Love,
Katie

Trip to Huachis, a small village in the Sierra

Dinner time! And exploring the hidden ruins

Pachamanca (Family Picnic) and the ride home

I know it has been a long time since I've posted on this blogsite, and I hope you all will forgive me. I was overwhelmed with final exams, papers, and committments to projects and Rotary.
But I hope you'll enjoy reading this reflection from my most recent trip to spend a week with a family in the Andes of Peru. I unfortunately lost my camera, but I'll post photos as soon as my friends pass me their copies!

An Unforgettable Experience

On Thursday morning, I arrived by bus to Lima at 5:30am weak in the knees from a long trip, covered in dust head to toe from the difficult road, and hungry because we had barely eaten in 19 hours, but somehow refreshed after an unforgettable experience living with a family in the Andes.

One of my closest friends from the University invited me to go with her and her cousin, Clery, to visit his family during the National Holiday, Independence Day. He had not visited his family in 2 years because it is such a difficult trip and even more so to take time off from work. I had no clue what the trip would be like or where we were headed. I thought we would be on the bus for at most 10 hours, because that’s about the time it to takes to get to Huaraz, one of the biggest tourist spots in the area. We were on a bus with no bathroom and the trip ended up being 17 hours! Almost half of the route was a thin dirt road that winded through the mountains at times with a steep drop off and nothing to break the fall!

The scenery was incredible. At night I could see the majestic, but dark faces of the mountains lit up by the starry night sky. In the morning, I woke just in time to see the snowcapped peaks of the Cordierra Blanca we had passed. We climbed higher and higher into the mountains towards the clear blue sky passing little villages, and every 15 minutes my friend would ask her cousin what everyone wants to know when they’re traveling…are we there yet?

We arrived just before noon, and were greeted by his dad, three year old sister Verenice and 5 year old cousin Alex. Alex even helped carry our luggage and it was almost bigger than him! Most of Clery's other brothers and sisters were in school; he is the oldest of eight. His mother had just given birth to a baby girl in February, and the most incredible part is that she did it on her own! There are no clinics nearby for medical help, and they are also somewhat superstitious, believing that if there is anyone in the room the baby will not be born.

The family still speaks quechua, the indigenous language from Incan times. Their home has dirt floors with straw and lamina roofs. They have no sewage, but do receive a little electricity (that doesn’t always work) for lighting at night in the kitchen and the rooms.

It was freezing cold! We were about 3500 km in altitude, and Clery had said it was warm during the afternoons, so I didn't pack heavy clothes. I slept with five heavy blankets and every morning huddled near the fire burning in the kitchen.

Far from usual comforts, you don’t recognize the difference when you’re opening your heart to new experiences and people.

I came to know and love the family very well. They invited me to help in certain chores, because I wanted to learn. I know my family and friends would find it REALLY hard to believe (being almost a vegetarian), but I caught and helped cleaned the animals I ate! I also helped collect water from a nearby pond to use for cooking and bathing and harvest lima beans for the Pachamanca.

On our last day we hiked down to an open field nearby where cows were grazing with all of the cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and had their version of a family picnic, the Pachamanca. Pachamanca is a meal cooked below the earth on a bed of hot coals. It starts with a layer of coals, then you add a layer of meat, potatoes, lima beans, squash and cover it with earth, letting it sit for at least an hour to cook. We also added a certain kind of tamale with flour made from potatoes and sugar (Chuño)....delicious!

It was a big event and a lot of the family was over at our house the evening before, crowded in the small kitchen preparing the food. We milled the potatoes and wrapped the tamales while the grandmother and cousins were on the floor removing shells from some nuts. The whole family shared in stories, laughing and talking the night away. Usually the family goes to sleep around 8 or 9 at night, but we didn’t get to bed until 12am! The actual day of the Pachamanca was incredible, with the entire family sharing in the meal, the kids running and shouting, everyone laughing, and traditional huanyo music playing from a small radio with a gorgeous view of the valley from where we sat.

HUAYNO and Fiesta de Patria

During my stay, I really learned to appreciate the traditional music and dance from the sierra known as Huayno. It is danced with a simple step that looks easy, but was actually difficult! It has a quick beat, but a lamenting tune coming from the harp and singer whose lyrics usually describe broken hearts, cheating, deception and drinking.

All over Peru the people were celebrating Independence Day. In the small village where I stayed, the Fiesta is sponsored by someone or some family that moves to the city, works hard all year and pays for the band, dances, and fireworks displays. It becomes a grand celebration with a lot of people that return from Lima to visit their families in the village and participate in the festivities.

On the first night, the kids marched around the village carrying torches in the shapes of stars, airplanes, boats and more, made by bending branches and covering them with the colors of the Peruvian flag. The next morning, there were more parades and skits put on by the primary and secondary schools, followed by a soccer game in the evening.

The last night we were there, the sponsor had managed to contract a famous Huayno singer for the biggest celebration. While we danced to her songs of cheating lovers, they lit up a tower of fireworks. We dodged the sparks flying towards us and then the whole crowd parted when the “Vaca Loca” (crazy cow) entered. The Vaca Loca shot fireworks and danced in circles; once you thought it had run out of fire and tried to return to the dance floor, it would start up again!

I had an AMAZING time. It was also great to escape from the city where there is a lot of contamination, loud noise and crime, and spend a week under clear, starry night skies, fresh air, and everyone you pass wishes you a good day or greets you with a hug. It was also a difficult trip, one that gives me another personal experience with realities faced by families in developing countries and the issue of migration (At the University in Peru I’m in graduate program focusing on the issue).

The last night we were there, you could see the heavy sorrow the mother was carrying knowing that her son was leaving and taking with him his sister, the next eldest, to study and work in the city…a life very different from what she has known the past 17 years…..She may not see either of them for at least another year or two.

The Ride Home

We planned to leave early in the morning, but could not find transportation. The dad found a truck that was headed to another stop where more busses pass by. My friend and I hopped in the back, and covered ourselves with the luggage and whatever blankets we could find to protect us from the cold. We were bounced around in the back of the dusty truck (usually used for transporting heavy materials like sand or rocks) for an hour and a half until we reached the spot. It was a crazy adventure, and we took that same skinny dirt road I described earlier….I didn’t dare look over the edge!

We caught two more buses and finally made it back to Lima. I’m here, safe and sound, but with a changed outlook on life….and not because of the risky road, but because of the people I met; learning their way of life and about the hardships they face, and also sharing in their laughter and family moments.

I’ll start school again in two weeks…but before then I have two weeks to take advantage of more exploring and new experiences! And to advance in my projects with Rotary and Rotaract.

Lots of Love,

Katie (Gringa, Bishtaca, etc. There is a myth in town that a gringo, known as Bishtaco, lives in the mountains and kills villagers at night, peeling off their skins….so they began calling me Bishtaca! Another funny story was when the three year old, who barely talks, said perfectly when I entered the kitchen “ahi está la gringa” There’s the gringa! J )


QUECHUA LESSON:
This is dedicated to Kim, Meg and Erin:

The 7 little brothers and sisters loved to hear me speak English and giggled every time I spoke the language. They had never really heard someone speak it fluently, because they have little contact with “gringos.” I was the only one in town, besides the Italians working in the Catholic parish….they thought I was Italian at first!

They wanted to learn some English words, and I noticed the colorful blanket the baby sister was wrapped in so I took the advantage to teach them the color song: “Red, yellow, green, red, blue, pink, red, red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red, red” that Kim, Meg, Erin and I sang in the 5th grade at a talent show. They loved it! And they taught me the quechua translation:

Red-Puca
Yellow - Galluash

The rest of the colors they did not know the quechua translation, they knew only the Spanish, I don’t know if it’s because there aren’t any or if it is a result of the transition to Spanish and a loss in the Quechua language.

Other colors: Black – Yana, White - Yuraj

PS Supisiki means farter…just a warning

The Month of May

I can't believe the month has flown by so fast. The first weekend in May I attended the Rotary District Conference where they presented the group study exchanges, exchange student, and myself and the other Ambassadorial Scholar, Allison Garret. Allison Garret and I both spoke in front of the entire conference. I really enjoyed the moment because I had the opportunity to share what I've learned from my experiences the past two months (now almost three!) and to express my gratitude to all of the members in the District for the chance to work with them and learn from them. I am excited that I still have months ahead to help in their projects and build stronger relationships. It's only a year that I have in Peru, but I see it as a pivotal time in my life where I have the chance to not only further my studies in the university, but to also learn from the Rotarians by working with them in their communities and growing as a leader from that experience.

The following weekend after the conference we celebrated Mother's Day in both my Rotary host club and Rotaract club. For Mother's Day, the men in my host Rotary club organized a special celebration with dinner, games and Karaoke. I shared M&Ms from home in honor of the mothers in the club, and the members gave me a gift for my mother. The following day I spent the entire afternoon preparing food for our Mother's Day celebration with a fellow Rotaractor. We made traditional Peruvian refreshments and I also shared another treat from home, chocolate cupcakes. It was an eventful evening. The families of all the Rotaractors were invited, past and present. There was a group of about ten past Rotaractors that are now mothers and we honored them with the mothers of the Rotaractors. We sang a song for the mothers that we had prepared and our sponsor Rotarian shared a poem he had written. The whole group then gathered together to videotape a greeting for my mother because she could not be there. That evening I was also formally initiated as a member of the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre.

I also had the opportunity this month to escape for a weekend to Huacho, just two hours outside of Lima. We visited the ruin site of Bandurria that dates to pre-ceramic time between 3,500-1,800 BC. It was fascinating to see the stone pyramids and ceremonial plazas they're uncovering which are located next to a lagoon that is visited by hundreds of different species of birds during the year. Huacho has several different lagoons located nearby. We had the chance to visit one other lagoon, the Enchanted. On the trip over to the lagoon passing by fields of corn, sugar and grazing cows, my friend was describing to me how crystal clear the water is, but when we arrived, we found polluted waters with stations for pumping chemicals and collecting fish in the center of the lagoon.

Half of the lagoon is owned by the municipality and the other by an association of mothers in Huacho who plan to use the territory as a reserve for conservation, tourism and to establish a shelter for victims of domestic violence (I am continuing to work with members from the community and a Rotary club in the district to do the same in Lima). The business did not ask permission from either party, nor are they paying taxes. The case is being disputed in the courts and I hope the members of the community have a resolution in their favor soon.

On June 8th the Rotary clubs of Lima organized a parade to promote the environment and awareness for Global Warming. Global Warming is a big concern on many of the political and nonpolitical agendas in Peru and around the world today. It was definitely brought to light during the summits last week between the European Union and Latin American Nations especially with Tomas Mueller's photographic exposition of the effects of global warming on Peruvian communities. The exposition is still up in Miraflores and I plan on visiting it this week.

Other than that, I've been super busy with writing papers and exams for classes. I am happy to share that the Spanish is definitely getting easier, but I still make really funny mistakes that give everyone a good laugh when I'm speaking. If you write to me, I'll share the stories, but most are not appropriate for publishing on my blog :p.

Lots of love,
Katie

Most surprising thing I've see so far:

Twice, I've seen a man walking up and down the lanes of traffic holding a pile of stuffed rats by their tails, and selling them to the passengers in the cars.....Maybe it's because it's the Chinese year of the Rat.

Building a park in Ventanilla, photo album

Rotaract Park for the Community of Ventanilla

I would like to share with you all one of the very deserving projects that I have the opportunity to work on with the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre. If you have a moment, below is a summary of the project that the club put together for its promotion and I've translated to English. If you would like to be involved in our project, you can help by donating to purchase a tree or helping to purchase the playground set. We and the community of Ventanilla would be very grateful! Just send me an e-mail!

1. General Information:
Name of Project: Rotaract Park

Responsible Party: Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre
José Karlo López- President Eliana Medina –Community Service
Gaby Zegarra –International Service

Duration: 6 months
Place: AAHH Olivos de la Paz-Ciudadela de Pachacutec-Ventanilla Alta-Callao-Lima
Total Cost: 8,500 soles/3,150 USD

2. Introduction and Assessment:
Over the past seven months the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre has been working with the community bringing them a massive health campaign, Christmas campaign, and food donations, among other projects.

In our continual work with the community, we have had the opportunity to see the needs they have. Based on our assessment, we decided to promote a project that would involve the participation of the community and benefit the children and the environment in the area.

We propose a "Rotaract Park," and we have launched the campaign "Plant a Tree, Plant Life," to promote the donation of trees that will form the park where we will also include a playground set for children.

The area in which the park will be located is a dry environment, where numerous children ages 16 and under live, and the only designated recreational areas are sand lots filled with stones and trash.

Thanks to the initiative of the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre, the grateful community has designated an area of 800 square meters for green areas, with the purpose of developing a Rotaract Park.

3. Definition of the Problems and Causes
The problems the community has are in health, recreation and the environment.

Some of the causes include:
The community does not have any green areas because there is little investment. There are no areas where the children can play and enjoy the natural environment. Furthermore, the community suffers from pollution dumped by nearby businesses, and the dusty, dry environment provokes respiratory illnesses and skin diseases.

4. Goal of the Project
The goal of this project is to give the community a healthy environment with trees and a playground set for children.

5. Plan of Execution for Project
January – Launch and promotion of the campaign "Plant a Tree, Plant Life."
February – Clearing of the area
March – Design of the project (location of the trees, benches, playground set, etc.)
April - Fundraising
MAY -Plant trees and grass, put in benches and playground set, and paint stones.
JUNE-Inauguration

* These proposed dates are tentative and will depend on the community and the members of the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre for their fulfillment.

6. Personnel
Greta Esmeralda Romn Clemente
Forestry Engineer
Anai Chang Escudero
Architect
Miriam Calla Coa
Civil Engineer
Eleana Medina Neyra
Nurse
José Chavez Campos
Accountant
We also have the cooperation of a local gardener and the enthusiasm of Rotaract members.

7. Sustainability
To sustain the project, the community and the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre have agreed to transfer the care and maintenance of the park to the community after its inauguration.

8. Budget
Labor: Volunteers from the community and the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre
"Plant a Tree, Plant Life" (40 trees, 1 truck for transporting trees and soil) S/. 880.00
Playground set S/. 6,150.00
Benches, grass, paint, stones S/. 1,200.00
Miscellaneous (transportation, paint brushes, etc.) S/ 270.00
TOTAL S/. 8,500.00

9. Monitoring and Evaluation
As mentioned, the project will be monitored by the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre and the town council of AAHH Olivos de la Paz, which is outlined in the agreement signed by both parties; because of our continual work in the community, a special committee has been designated to verify the use and maintenance of the park.


On the Radio!
I was on the Radio! Every Sunday the FM Union Station dedicates an hour to Rotary for updates on events and projects in the community. I was invited to speak as a guest of the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre, and had the opportunity to talk about the scholarship and my experiences in a new culture. They had a good laugh when they asked what music I liked from Peru because I answered Grupo Cinco! Grupo Cinco is a really popular Cumbia band that seems to play on every radio in every bus, and probably comparable to yesterday’s Inn Sync or Back Street Boys.

What I didn’t know, is that Peru has a variety of traditional music that both old and young know and love. After a special meeting with my Rotary club held in the house of one of the members, we toasted with the traditional pisco sour drink to the new Rotary year, then sang and danced to Peruvian music. They showed me their version of the Waltz, and I shared mine. The next day in the Rotaract (20-30 year olds) while we were waiting for others to arrive, they too began to play and sing the traditional music! I loved that they, like the Rotarians, knew every word.

“Pata” y “Pato”
These words are really similar, so you can understand why I might easily confuse them, and so did another Ambassadorial scholar! We both have funny stories with these two words.

Pato – means duck, Pata means- the meat from the heel of a cow, and it is also used colloquially to mean best friend.

I went to a restaurant with the members from the Rotaract club, and I thought we were going to try chicharrones, a pork dish that I haven’t tried yet, but when I sat down and looked at the menu I realized we were in an anticucherria!! An anticucherria is a restaurant for the popular dish anticuchos, the grilled meat from a cow’s heart, served on top of meat from the stomach. I had no plans to eat this dish, but they told me were in one of the best in town (there is a whole street of anticucherrias right behind my house), and it was an opportunity to try something new. The stomach meat was a little too slimy for me, but the anticucho was really good, and I’m not a big fan of meat!

While we were eating, they began telling me about more dishes I need to try, ones made with the meat from a cow’s brain and another with the meat from the heel of the cow! When they described how the dish was made with the meat from the cow, I realized I had already tried it! In cusco my family served me a delicious dish of soft white meat covered in a creamy sauce. I asked my host mom what the meat was and she said it was pata, I thought that meant duck, but found out after the Rotaractors burst out laughing I had actually eaten the meat from the cow’s heel! I’m definitely not going to confuse those two words again, but I’m glad I did, because I’m not sure that I would’ve tried Pata otherwise. I don’t think that I’ll try the dish made with the meat from the cow’s brain….although I can’t remember what it’s called….

Rotary Olympics!
Last weekend I went with my Rotary club of San Matiniano and the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre to participate in the annual Olympics, where members from clubs all over D4450 come to share a weekend of fun, great food and friendly competition. I proudly carried the Sanmartiniano Rotary club’s banner in the opening ceremony and won third place in a Fooseball competition for the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre. The Rotaract club and I also raised about $80 (around 240 soles) in selling raffle tickets to go towards building a park in Ventanilla.

Rotary Olympics and Rotaract Retreat

Rotary Club San Martiniano, helping to empower women

Rotaract building a park in Ventanilla

On Sunday, I went with the Rotaract club of Pueblo Libre to Ventanilla, Callao, about an hour bus ride north of Lima. It's an extremely poor community situated on the beach and I'll write more later, to give you an idea of what life is like there. We began clearing stones from an unused lot so that we can put in a park for the families in the area. We didn't have many tools with us, but we used shovels, picks and rakes to clear the first half of large stones and worked side by side with members from the community.

Afterward, we made a short trip to the beach, but I didn't swim because I was warned by the community director that the water in the area is very dirty. An ongoing problem between Callao and Lima is the sewage that spills into their waters from Lima.

We didn't return until 6:30 that evening, and we were starving because we hadn't eaten the entire day! We went to a restaurant near my house and I tried Pollo a la Brasa, a popular dish that you can find in any of the fast food chicken restaurants that seem to be on every corner. The chicken is roasted in the oven, but the secret to it's great flavor is that it's soaked in beer several hours before....It's delicious!

With the Rotaract club, I've had the chance to visit different communities, try new foods, and explore more of Lima. On Monday, I went to visit two museums with friends from Rotaract, and we were given an informal tour of the 2nd oldest Fire House in Lima. The firefighter on duty noticed I was interested in seeing the antique vehicles, and gave us the tour. We found out that he too was a member of Rotaract years ago! He now dedicates his free time serving as a firefighter. In Peru, the firefighters are all volunteers.

For lunch, I tried the very popular and likewise ubiquitous, but uniquely Peruvian, Chinese food (known as Chifa). Peru has a large Chinese population, and its very own version of China town in Lima. The menu is definitely different from the chinese food you would find in P.F. Chang's. It's a cuisine all its own, blending Chinese and Peruvian dishes and benefitting from the variety of foods that grow here.

I just wanted to pass a long a quick update! I hope you've enjoyed reading my experiences! I've just realized that I've been lacking in sharing the funny, odd and crazy stories of living in a different culture! I'll have to save those for later, right now I have to get some sleep...I have a busy weekend ahead of me.

Lots of love to my family and friends, especially to my new niece Ava Lynn Fay, born April 2nd!

Katie

In Piura with Rotaract

Easter in Piura

Happy Belated Easter to everyone! I spent Easter in Piura, which is 15 hours North of Lima by bus. It’s the city I visited for a short afternoon after the conference in Chiclayo. I was invited by the Rotaract club of Miraflores-Piura to spend the Holiday with the members, speak to their club and get to know the city.

The first day I went all over the city. I visited the small, tranquile plaza in the center of town, the different universities, and the nearby village of Catacaos which is well known for its ceramics. Catacaos was overflowing with people celebrating Good Friday at the local carnival and attending mass in the cathedral.

Piura is known as the beach town; there aren’t beaches in Piura, but it is THE spot for changing buses to reach all of Peru’s best shorelines. Most of the villages along the beaches are smaller and much poorer than Piura. On Saturday, I went with a group of members from the club to camp for the night on a beach just outside of the village of Tortuga.

It was almost a 2 hour hike through a hot, dry desert that opened up to spectacular views of red sand beaches, rock formations, and different fauna flying over the waters (Check out my photos of the blue footed seagull, and the Pelican!). It was a tough trip because we were not prepared. The members weren’t expecting the beach to be so far from the village and access to food or water. By the time we set up camp, we had little food and even less water to drink or use for cooking since we drank most of it along the hike, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience. Like the story “Stone Soup,” we shared everything and had all that we needed.

When we returned to Tortuga, hungry, thirsty and exhausted, a family opened their home to us so we could rest and shared their food. It was a very generous gesture, because the families in Tortuga are very poor. They live in mostly cinderblock homes, with little or no furniture, tile floors, and sheet roofs. The bathroom in one home was a bucket in the back of the house.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of sometimes complete strangers who have offered their help when I was in need. Last week I was very sick (again!), and had a high fever. Maria, who sometimes comes to clean our house, took me to a nearby store to buy food so she could help me prepare a soup. I didn’t have any money at the time and so the owner gave me what I needed for free.

I am excited to have the opportunity to show the goodwill these people have shown me, in working with the Rotary and Rotaract clubs, volunteering my time in additional service projects and speaking to more groups.

On a bus ride home from the University a student gave me an article from the newspaper published by the University and written by my professor for International Relations. In it, he concludes that never before has the US had a worse image in the world than it has today. I hope my experience, and that of all the scholars counters his argument.

Last night I spoke to the Rotaract club of Miraflores-Lima, who met to begin planning the year’s district-wide events and invited me to help. This weekend I hope to volunteer at a center for children in the community of San Martin, a poorer area in Lima.

Right now I need to get started on my homework…I have a lot of reading for my classes. Before I go though, I have to share with you how crazy and different the experience was to get my readings for class!

Instead of buying the books, you check out a copy from the library and make copies of the sections you need to read for the week, but sometimes there aren’t any copies left! The libraries are very different. All of the books are behind a counter. To check out a book, you find its code on a computer and give it to the person at the checkout window who then gets the book for you. If you’re able to get a copy, then you take it to the copy center which is often a madhouse of students all struggling to drop off or collect their copies and you have to make your way through the crowd to be heard. It's crazy! And every week I have to go back to get my readings, but I think just for two of my classes; the other two professors made readers for their classes that took a good part of the day to copy, but I don't have to go back!

I miss you all and I’ll be back again soon with photos!
Katie

Uncovering the Lord of Sipan

Rotary and Rotaract
I have had the opportunity to visit three clubs already, including my host club. The Rotarians here are incredible. They are so welcoming and committed to service. Rotary is well known throughout Perú, and in almost every city I've visited, I have found a dedication to Rotary…I am trying to take a picture for every city that I find a dedication to Rotary or Rotaract.

I spoke at the Rotary Inka club in Cusco, and presented banners to both clubs in Cusco and gave them a small souvenir to remember Arizona and D5500. I met with my host sponsor last week who took the afternoon off to treat me to lunch and give me a quick "urban tour" of the stores in the shopping center to show me which ones were from Perú. We also ate all kinds of local dishes and desserts. The next evening I went to visit the entire club, and I was overwhelmed by the warm and generous reception. They all stood and welcomed me with a round of applause as I entered the room, and I was greeted by everyone with a kiss on the cheek (instead of shaking hands, everyone greets each other with a kiss on the cheek). It's a small, very close group, with less than 20 members. There are three married couples and two sisters, so it's very much like a family. There were a lot of smiles and laughter throughout the entire evening, and at the end everyone took turns, going around the table to introduce themselves again. There are doctors, business women and men, a former military officer, professor, and more. They made a special dessert that night (they meet at 8:15 in the evening and always have dessert) because they knew I would be attending; corn-cake, made from the sweet, white, very large-kernel corn that is used in a lot of dishes in Peru.

This past weekend I had another opportunity to speak at the 27th Rotaract Conference in Chiclayo, in the north of Peru. I just returned yesterday morning on a 15-hour overnight bus ride from the north to make it on time for orientation at the university at 9:00 am. I had an amazing time. I learned about the projects their clubs have done in their communities and I also shared my experiences in Rotaract. I made a lot of friends, and I have been invited to speak in more clubs, and to attend more conferences. The Rotaract club from Iquitos, (a well known city in the jungle) invited me to speak at their club, and presented me with a gift to remember them by at the conference. It was great to meet Rotaractors and Rotarians from the district working together with the same enthusiasm for service above self…or, in Spanish it's "dar de si, antes de pensar en si." I also had a fun time learning their dances, trying new dishes and visiting sites that are thousands of years old, still in the process of excavation, and a fascinating discovery into the long history of civilization and culture in the area.

Dancing in the North
The North is a very hot, dry desert, but with a beauty of its own, like Arizona. Temperatures can reach as high as 100 degrees, and there is no air conditioning to escape the burning sun. The rooms can feel like sanas at night because there is little ventilation, but that didn’t stop up from dancing the night away after the meetings! The cumbia is really popular in Peru, and they are fiercely competitive with groups from Uruguay…sorry Erin, our Grupo Cinco, a popular band from Chiclayo, is by far the best. (A little side note: we also beat Uruguay in soccer a few weeks ago, I went to the game with some friends from the language school in Cusco and I loved it! We were all decked out in the loyal colors of red and white for our teams).

They also have a local dance that I’m not sure what it is called, but they definitely had a great time watching me as I hopped about trying to get the steps right. They laughed a lot and took lots of photos…hopefully I can get a hold of those.

My favorite dance was the local marinera. Two members from the Rotaract club performed a version of the dance and it was beautiful. I hope to make it back to Chiclayo during the festival where there are days of marinera performances. The women are dressed in their elegant, long, flowing dresses, and the men wear long black pants, white shirts, boots, sashes tied around their waste, and large cowboy hats. Both the man and the woman in a marinera dance carry a handkerchief in their hands that they wave as they dance. There is also an exclusive breed of horse from Chiclayo, whose trot is different from other breeds, that is used in some marinera dances.

Uncovering the Lord of Sipan
Amidst the sometimes barren, mostly flat and dry desert, are pyramids buried from civilizations thousands of years old. We had the opportunity to visit the tomb of the Lord of Sipan, and a pyramid close by that dates over 4000 years old. Both sites are still under excavation. Sipan belongs to the Moche culture, who ruled the north coast centuries before the Inca (approximately 100ad-700 AD). His tomb was discovered along with hidden treasures of gold, silver and copper. In addition to his tomb, three more have been found belonging to a priest, a warrior and an earlier Lord.

The 4000 year pyramid under excavation nearby, has a colorful painting found on its walls, showing the already sophisticated skills and culture the people in the area had at the time.

Beautiful beaches and the best Ceviche
To escape the burning sun, Chiclayo and Piura have some of the best known beaches in Peru. In Piura, people come from all over Peru to celebrate the New Year on the beaches, because in December summer is just beginning for them. (Side note: It’s the strangest thing to enter into a shopping center right now because it’s hot and there are signs hanging from the ceiling saying “Back to School Sale,” when it’s March.)

On Piura’s beaches you will find the best Ceviche, one of the most popular dishes in Peru. I don't like seafood and my stomach turned when I thought about how it was prepared, but I tried it and it was pretty good…I just can’t get over the texture of seafood. Ceviche is raw fish cooked only by the juices from lemons. It can be made with shrimp, squid (at least I think it was squid I ate), shell fish, and many more different types of fish. I also ate the popular green tamale made from corn, butter and cilantro, and that is by far one of my favorites (in addition to Pollo Huancaina, chicken in a cheese sauce). You might hear me talk a lot about food, but it’s because there are hundreds of different types of local dishes that vary from region to region, and food is an important part of their culture. Lunch, as I’ve mentioned, is the largest meal of the day, and a lot of time and preparation is taken for the meal. I love listening to the people as they describe and debate how the plates are prepared and where to find the best (although, I can barely understand cooking in English, so it’s really difficult in Spanish, but I’ve bought a Spanish cookbook to help me).

The ride home
On the 15-hour bus ride home I sat on the second floor and had a great view of the vast desert and the people going about their daily lives passing by my window. At times there were no plants or trees to be seen, only an ocean of sand with the sun in the distant horizon, but then little shops and homes with thatched roofs would sprout up in small green areas. I watched the men lead their burros carrying loads probably from the day's work, and women sell food or other products to passing busses. Some women even hung their items on long sticks with a can to collect money to sell to passengers sitting on the second floor of the buses.

It was a long journey home, but I’m glad that I had a chance to see the scenery and life passing by my window, before the sun set and I tried my best to sleep.

SERVICE
This weekend I'll be planting trees with my Rotaract club in a poorer District of Lima, to create a local park for the people that live there, and celebrating World Rotaract Week.

I’ve also been in contact with a woman interested in starting a shelter for abused women, the first in Peru. It sounds like a great project, so I am excited to see how I can help, and if my Rotary club might be interested…it might be a great project to support in honor of Dia de la mujer (Woman's Day).

Classes begin at the University on Monday, so I’ll be getting pretty busy soon, but you can still expect to hear from me!

Lots of love,
Katie

People and Life in Cusco

Ruins at Pisaq, the walled city

The ruins in and nearby Cusco

The small village of Taray

My First Rotary Meeting!

I visited the Rotary club of Cusco today, and I will be visiting the Rotary Inca club tomorrow. We exchanged banners, and over lunch they taught me some Quechua words. Machu Pichu actually means old Mountain, Machu is ``old`` and Pichu is ``Mountain``....There`s your first lesson in Quechua! It`s a really difficult language.

I am trying to post pictures from our visit to Taray, hopefully they will be up soon!
Katie

Two nights in a Cuzco hospital

(Written 2-25-08)


I’m writing this post from my bed at the hospital with an IV hooked into my left hand (a first time experience for me!). They are keeping me here overnight, just to be safe, because after running some tests they found salmonella and a parasite at its beginning stages. I had the chills and a terrible fever the last couple of nights, but I slept all day yesterday and with the IV I feel much better… plus I haven’t watched TV for three weeks and they have cable in the hospital!


I am very fortunate because I have insurance that can afford this kind of care, and I know that I’m also receiving preferential treatment because my insurance is very good. When I arrived at the clinic, I was pushed ahead of other families to have my x-rays taken and my blood drawn. I have a large room upstairs with two beds, my own bathroom and a beautiful view, while downstairs the people are sleeping side by side. If you don’t have insurance, they don’t have to care for you and people have died waiting.

Outside my window the mountains are mostly occluded by the thick fog this morning...kind of fitting for the mood I started with =), but what’s more interesting to me is all the taxis lined up at the Pecsa gas station. Rows of taxis are waiting to be cleaned, checked and filled for business this morning. This city runs on taxis, buses and combis and very few families own cars. The other day I saw a family loading their dog in the back of a taxi, probably for a trip to the Veterinarian.


The Small Village of Taray


In Taray, and other smaller towns, they use mototaxis. It’s basically a motorcycle with a carriage attached to the back (see the photo). One trip from the town of Pisaq to the small village of Taray costs one sol per person, and the carriage holds up to three persons!


There is very little traffic between Pisaq and Taray, and when you consider 1 Snicker’s bar costs 3 soles, you realize they don’t make very much money. I’ve also learned that most US products are sold here at the same rate as they are in the states, so they aren’t very affordable…I felt a little guilty as I came to that realization while eating my Snicker’s bar, but I really miss chocolate from home!


Taray was a nice break from Cusco, because although I love the city, it was nice to breathe fresh air! I hiked 25 minutes into the mountain, and discovered a waterfall. Another 25 minute hike brought me to the top of a hill where I had a spectacular view of the Urubamba River winding its way through green, velvet, but rugged looking mountains and stretches of cornfields toward a snow capped mountain in the distance.


We also took two excursions during the week, one to visit the salt mines about an hour outside of Taray (and a good 40 minute hike!), and the other to visit the ruins at Pisaq. The ruins were incredible! They were once part of a large walled city high up in the mountains with huge terraces for farming. Below the city were fountains where the people had to bathe before entering and water still runs through them today. We explored the different rooms, now overgrown with vegetation, but the doorways, windows and cubby spaces, where they may have kept household items, idols or precious metals, are still intact. I climbed my way up the narrow staircases to the top, and breathed in the sight of the green valley and the amazing architecture they accomplished centuries ago.


It was about an hour and half walk back to Pisaq with more ruins of the city to explore and a path that led us through a small cave and by steep drop-offs to the bustling market below in the town’s main plaza. The market is a sea of blue and black tarps, under which you’ll find isles of artisans selling their hand woven crafts for ready-to-bargain prices, mostly to tourists, and all sorts of meats (most often the whole animal), fruits, vegetables, kitchen utensils, natural dyes and much more spread on tables or on the ground for regular shoppers. There are a couple of large markets in Cusco that I’d really like to visit before I leave, and it’s already my last week!

Crazy Roads And a baby on the way!

While we were in Taray there was another strike in Cuzco, and it was much stronger. It lasted for two days. All transportation stopped and most every store was closed in the nearby towns, including Pisaq and Taray. The roads and highways were completely blocked off with large boulders or tree stumps. As we were making our way back to Cusco through the maze of debris, we even came across an enormous wall of cement propped up in the middle of the road. In town there were still remnants of the strike; a large banner strung across the church in the plaza read, “Defending our Heritage.” During the two days of strike the airport was closed and all flights to and from Cusco were cancelled, because the people tried to storm the airport. The strike was stronger and in more areas outside Cusco, because farmers had joined to protest the falling prices for their products.


The worst part was when one of the teachers whose wife was expecting went into labor during the strike and there was no way for him to reach Cusco. He couldn’t sit and wait because the strike would not end until later that afternoon, so he began to walk. He walked the entire morning and afternoon, and we don’t know if he made it on time for the birth of his first child.

One more week in Cusco and then I’m off to Lima! Hopefully I’ll be able to post before then, but it’s been a crazy couple of weeks!

Katie

SEE PHOTOS BELOW! (They`re after the last post I made)

Birthday in Cuzco

On Tuesday evening we celebrated the Birthday of one of my friends from the school, Gillian, with her host family. We had homemade pizza and cake, and the family cleared a dance floor for dancing. The host dad taught us the salsa, the merengue and more! It was so much fun to spend the evening with the family. Afterward, we sang Happy Birthday in both Spanish and English, and as Gillian went to blow the candles out the host dad shoved the cake in her face! (You can see the pictures under the album ¨The People and life in Cuzco.¨)

My host family is just as great. Yesterday evening my roomate and I arrived late for dinner and my host mom had already left, but she set our dinner on the table with our names on the plates and a little note saying she was sorry that she could not be there. She really makes us feel so much at home. I also had a lot of fun last week when she and I watched and sang along to some classic, romantic music videos in Spanish and English (i.e. In Sync, Vanessa Williams, etc. :) )

We are very fortunate because we live in a really nice part of town, but walking this morning from my home to the Plaza de Armas I could see that there is still a lot of poverty in Cuzco. I´ve talked a lot with my host family and teachers about life here, trying to learn as much as I can, and in the next couple of weeks I´ll be able to see how Rotary is involved in the community. I´ve been invited to a district event next Saturday in celebration of the Anniversary of Rotary. I`ve also been invited to attend their director`s meeting on the following Monday and to speak at their meeting on Wednesday.

Wish me luck!

I leave for Tarray tomorrow and will be there for the week. It`s a very small village just two hours outside of Cuzco, and is in the heart of the Sacred Valley, a beautiful area with more ruin sites to explore.

I`ll bring back photos!

Katie

Family outside of Sullistani, they invited us in for a cup of mate de coca (coca tea)

Ruins at Sullistani

Ruins nearby Cuzco

Taquile, Lake Titicaca

Puno, Festival Virgin de la Candelaria

Trip to Puno

At 9:30 pm a group of about 16 of us left on the overnight bus to Puno. The bus station was chaotic, with so many families trying to reach Puno, whether it was for the weekend’s festival there, or to catch a connecting bus to destinations such as Arequipa, or La Paz, Bolivia. I was almost left behind because the agency that arranged our trip had forgotten to give me my tickets, but all worked out!

The trip was incredible. We arrived in Puno at around 5am in the morning and checked into our hostel to drop off our stuff then have a quick breakfast. We left that morning at 6:45 to board a boat visiting the islands of Uros and Taquile on Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca is one of the world’s seven natural wonders of the world. It is the highest navegable lake in the world. Cusco is almost 11,000 ft above sea level, and Puno and Lake Titicaca are over 3,000ft higher, so don’t forget to bring your oxygen tanks if you plan to visit, and wear plenty of sunscreen!

I have always wanted to visit the island of Uros. Uros is a collection of small, floating islands made by the people from the reeds growing in the lake. They are an Aymara speaking people who have managed to maintain their customs and traditional way of life, but have also introduced some modern technology with electricity, phones, and satellites.
The men on the island do all the reed work, in crafts, building boats, laying more reeds, or building new islands. The women cook and sew. Their blankets either document daily life on Uros or are a collection of Incan symbols.

I was looking at some of their artwork when I turned around and saw a huge, vulture-like bird sitting on a bench feasting on a dead animal. It was a condor! The people of Uros have domesticated the animals, but they are still large, powerful creatures. At one point it attacked one of the girls in our group, but the guide was able to calm it down.

Lake Titicaca is beautiful! It is so large and majestic. It took us 2.5-3 hours to arrive at the little island of Taquile on the Peruvian side. I felt like I was on the ocean! You could not see the shore on the horizon and the water was a deep blue.

Taquile
2000 people live on the calm and peaceful island, and like Uros, the people have kept their traditional way of life. It was a difficult 20-30 minute hike uphill to the center of town, but with breathtaking views of the lake and the quiet island. One of the tourists from another group said he felt like he was in the shire, as we walked by green pastures, small farms and herds of sheep, and quaint, stone homes. Stone archways, marked the main path to let us know we were headed in the right direction.

You can spot a single man on the island because his hat only has red and white stripes, while married men have more colorful hats, and officials will where a bunt cap on top.
Young girls wear black covers with red tassels on the ends, while women wear more colorful caps, but as they grow older they begin to wear less color.

Festival
When we returned to Puno, the festivities had begun. It was all one huge party, as a parade of men and women danced and a band of trumpets, trombones, pipes and drums followed them circling the center of town. They started early in the evening and played until 1am, dancing the same steps and playing the same energetic melody. Huge foam wars broke out and you couldn’t make it across town without being soaked from head to toe in white foam. My friends and I were so covered in white foam that people in the crowd were pointing, we waved back and everyone laughed.

A friend of mine from the school decided to join in the wars and we ran into a fun, sweet family of girls who had the same goal in mind. We then went up and down the streets, and if any guy attacked us, we all went after him. In those few days of festival grandparents and parents became kids again, and it was all one enormous game. I had a blast! At one point, I even danced with the family in the parade!

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to snag good seats in the stadium, because a large crowd was already lining up outside before the dance competitions had begun. All of the same dancers that danced the night away were now dressed in full regalia, with elaborate costumes and masks for the occasion. The competition went all day, but we watched only five hours in the stadium, and left to find the dancing still continuing outside, in another parade around the center of town. The celebration was everywhere! We returned to the hostel and found it playing on the television, and heard it in the radio as we traveled thirty minutes outside of town to visit the ruins at Sullistani.

The drive to the ruins was incredible. The landscape and people changed so dramatically just outside of town. Green, open pastures and rolling hills where herds of sheep, llama, alpaca and vicuña were tended by people wearing a more traditional style, and living in quaint homes built from the surrounding rock. It was that day that I saw my first llama and alpaca!

I am beginning to experience how varied the culture and land are in Peru; in just a short drive you can reach the countryside, or by boat you can visit the tranquil islands of Taquile and Uros, where you will find people living traditional lifestyles and speaking languages hundreds of years old. Even in Cusco, you can experience the diversity as you walk down the narrow, ancient streets and hear Spanish and Quechua conversations transpire, or you step inside a modern bank and discover that the walls are Incan.

It´s been a little difficult to post, but tomorrow I will be uploading a lot of photos, so you can have a chance to see the people and landscape. After tomorrow, I will be out of reach for about a week, because I will be taking my Spanish classes in a small village just outside of Cusco where there isn´t even a local store to buy water!

I´ll see you tomorrow!
Katie

Lunch time!

It’s freezing cold today, but I’ve just had a hot bowl of soup and cup of tea to warm me up. They eat their largest meals in the afternoon, and always have coffee or tea (tea made from coca leaves is most popular and is supposed to be the best remedy for altitude sickness). Meals in the afternoon are the largest, a soup is served first, and then a main course with meat, which is usually beef (most often chewy), chicken, or fish and rice or potatoes. There seem to be no tortillas in Peru! I was told the only time tortillas are ever served is in the Sierras, during a traditional ceremony or celebration. Instead, bread is at every meal which I absolutely love, but the bread is really hard.

Breakfast is usually just bread with butter or jam, and dinner is usually another bowl of soup.

If you were to sit down at a restaurant and wanted to try a typical Peruvian dish, you would see Alpaca on the menu. The meat is supposed to be very healthy, with little fat and no cholesterol, but I’m told very few Peruvians actually eat Alpaca! It’s seen as more of a beast of burden, rather than food. A really typical Peruvian dish is the Kuy, or roasted guinea pig, and when it is eaten the whole guinea pig, head and all, is brought to the table….something I haven’t experienced yet, but I did eat fish served with the tail still on it. Kuy is such a typical food that it was painted as part of the Last Supper in a piece done during colonial times which hangs in Cusco’s Cathedral. Another typical dish would be Anticucho, which is supposed to be really tender, juicy meat served on a kabob. Sounds great, right? Until you find out the meat is from a cow’s heart! I’m not sure if I’m gusty enough to try it…I think I’d like to try their famous Chifa (Chinese food) instead, or eat at one of their many pizzerias.

They have a variety of fruits, but my favorite is the huge avocados (they´re a type from the ones in the states) you can buy at very cheap prices!

El Paro (The strike)
I left my house yesterday at 7:30 in the morning to start my long walk to school knowing there would be no transportation, and when I reached the main street that runs through Cusco, Avenida de la Cultura, I was still surprised by what I saw...the usually busy and loud street with taxis and combis rushing by and honking their horns was quiet. Instead, there was a calm, steady flow of people walking in the direction of the Plaza de Armas. It was remarkable to see so many people coolly walking towards their destinations, and it seemed it was their manifestation of solidarity in the strike.

(Really briefly - the strike was against a law recently written, that if passed, would allow for private investment in places such as Machu Pichu; something the people feel in Cusco would destroy the world heritage site, and they would not see any of the economic benefits.)

It was about an hour’s walk to school (all UPHILL). The demonstration had not started, but along the way there were tires burning in the streets, and large stones to block any vehicles from driving in the streets. No taxi dared to drive any later than eight in the morning or near the Plaza de Armas, because if they were seen, the people would throw rocks at them.

Hundreds of people circled the plaza de Armas carrying signs saying things such as “Cusco is not for sale.” It was a crazy sight to see so many persons from all parts of society walking side by side and circling the plaza. We could hear the noise and shouting from our classrooms. It seemed the whole of Cusco was out to make their voices heard; and they were, because all over the news that evening and this morning were reports about the strike. There was little or no violence and the strike died down about one, but if the congress continues to move ahead with passing the law there will be another strike next week.

A usual day in Cusco
To get to school in the morning, I usually go by ¨Combi, ¨ and it seems crazy to me now, but they tell me it’s a circus in Lima…so I am really glad to be getting the experience. The Combi is their main bus system, but it’s actually a van that will carry 20+ persons at times! It’s much cheaper than taking a taxi, but it can get pretty crowded with people standing bent over because there aren’t any seats. It’s also really hard to get off if you’re stuck in the corner!

At night I often take a taxi home with a friend from the school, and we’ve been taught which ones are the safe ones to take - there are a lot of drivers in the city that taxi persons but are not registered with the town council and can be very dangerous for tourists.

Home
The family that I am living with does not own the home I am staying in. It is a large house with several rooms, and simply furnished. The head of the household, Patricia, recently divorced from her husband. She is the caretaker of the home and earns extra money by renting the rooms to students or visitors like me. Her son and his fiancée stay in one of the rooms when he comes home for the weekends, and her ex-husband’s brother (Juan), who was recently divorced from his wife, also lives in the house. He was kicked out of his home and had no place to go, so Patricia offered him a place to stay. They are really good friends and are a riot when they are together!

I eat all of my meals with the family, and over breakfast, lunch and dinner I am learning a lot about Peruvian life. It’s nearing dinner now, so I need to get going, but the next time I’m on I’ll share with you some of their recipes, ones that will make your mouth water and others that might make your stomach turn. =)

Katie

Desde Cuzco

I am so thrilled to be writing this post from Cuzco, Peru. I arrived in Cuzco on Sunday, after a long day of traveling Saturday and a short morning flight to Cuzco.

Dia de Carnival
Cuzco is a beautiful city, rich with history and culture, that I am just beginning to explore. On Sunday evening, my first day at the language school, all of the new students were supposed to be given a quick tour of the city, but we were unable to go out into the streets because we knew that we would be a huge target. It was dia de carnival, and in Cuzco, they celebrate it by throwing water balloons or buckets of water at passer-bys. Traditionally boys chase after girls and vice versa, but the boys are the ones doing most of the throwing and there is no discrimination for tourists. The kids are also armed with shaving crème and huge water guns, and are merciless, but one boy gave me a water balloon to throw before he doused me with a bucket of water! I was soaked head to toe, freezing cold and my hair was greasy from the shaving crème. At night, they throw flour, but I knew I was an easy target so I spent the evening with my host family. It was a crazy, but definitely fun experience.

Visit to the Clinic
Today, I had the chance to visit a clinic for mentally handicapped children that have been abandoned by their parents. The clinic is supported by the Amauta language school, which I am attending. We gave a donation towards their emergency medical fund for the children, and then spent about an hour visiting and playing with the children. I sang songs with them that I learned in highschool Spanish class (Los pollitos dicen pio pio pio...thank you Mr. Norrid!), and I spent a lot of time playing with a girl who could not sit upright without help, or speak. When I laid her back in her bed (something very difficult to do, because she really enjoyed the attention) I saw that her name was Katy. I also visited and played with twin toddlers Ruth and Yusira, and I was so excited when they both grabbed my hand at the same time.

The Amauta Language School runs a volunteer program in addition to classes for students, and the clinic is just one of their 25 projects.

Cuzco, World Heritage site
It´s incredible to be living in a city with so much culture and history. Cuzco was named as one of the world´s heritage sites and people seem to be flocking from around the world to visit. I have made friends from Austria, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Holland and the states. But it´s an odd experience to see in this bustling city, where history and present collide, an Irish pub or an American sports bar & grill in the Plaza de Armas.

The booming tourism industry is sparking some conflict as they try to decide how to best manage Machu Pichu. Tomorrow, there will be a strike in the main Plaza de Armas, and there will be no transportation within Cuzco or to Machu Pichu. (It looks like I´ll be walking with some friends to school tomorrow! It´s a good 45-50 minute walk, but I need the exercise).

I think that´s all for now…if you have to read these long posts every time, I´m afraid you´ll never come back to visit! This weekend I´ll have the chance to see a huge celebration in Puno for Carnival. People come from all over to see the festival and there will be folkloric dances and firecrackers in the main streets of the city.

Until next time!

Katie

I'm off to Peru!

It’s been almost two years in waiting, and I’m finally leaving for Peru! I am so excited to have this experience, and what’s more, to be able to do it through Rotary.

I have been so fortunate to be a guest at different clubs in the Tucson district, and in my own sponsoring club, so that I can begin to understand the work they do and know the people behind it. They are a diverse group of professionals that come together in the spirit of service and friendship. Their hearts are big, responding to needs within their own community and in the world; from the Maricopa Rotary club that has provided, their community with a pool for 50 + years to my own sponsoring club, the Casa Grande Rotary club, that delivered medical and other needed supplies to a community in Nigeria.

I am excited to see Rotary in action in another country; to see the same passion in serving their communities and elsewhere and the same eagerness to increase international understanding and cooperation.

Already I’ve been invited to participate in the Rotaract District Conference in Chiclayo, Peru, on March 7th – 9th, just before classes begin at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú on the 10th. I wrote to the Yahoo Rotaract net to see if there were any Rotaractors in Peru, and I heard from two clubs in Lima! Both gave me warm welcomes, invited me to participate in their clubs, and extended their friendship. They have already helped me tremendously in answering all of my questions and even offering to let me travel with them to the conference.

I feel so fortunate to have this warm welcome even before I've stepped off the plane!

I hope you enjoy discovering Perú and its people as I do, through my blog posts and photos. So please don't be a stranger, visit often and write me!

Lots of love to my family and friends!
Katie