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