Settling In

I have now been in Peru for two weeks. While I have managed (so far) to evade the dreaded gastrointestinal plagues, I did manage to contract a nasty cold. There has been much to adjust to and I’m sure the stress of it combined with an icy shower each morning and lack of sleep all contributed to my current condition. I shall persevere nevertheless.

In my last post I mentioned the dogs that howl all night long and the roosters who crow before daybreak. I adjusted to these small annoyances rather easily (in fact my host mom talked to the neighbors to tell them that her “daughter” couldn’t sleep because the rooster was always “singing”, and they told her not to worry, that they would be slitting its throat in short time! Ahh). It seems, however, that each night something new gets thrown into the mix. Friday night there was a drunken man singing and making merry outside our house into the wee hours. Saturday night there was a bash in the local blasting music until 3 am. Then in the morning there was an hour-long speech for Father’s day over the town’s loudspeaker and, yep, more music. What’s more, there is a house being built next door and the workers and their families are hanging outside our door from dusk til dawn. Ay Dios Mio.

Things aren’t all bad though. Saturday night I wandered around Chosica, a local urban center, with some other aspirantes. It was fun to act like a total gringa, speaking English all night, taking lots of photos, and eating pizza for dinner instead of more rice. I bought a charcoal pencil and eraser so I can start sketching again. Also, I am now the proud owner of a fire engine red guitar that my friend Salvador picked out at a music store in Lima called “Patty’s.” A few others bought guitars as well so we can all jam together. This time I’m really going to commit myself to mastering the art. Tonight I played until my fingers were raw. I’m really out of practice.

I experienced my first Peruvian mass on Sunday. It was a truly enjoyable experience. We sang to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar rather than an organ and it was all very tranquilo. Unfortunately, the new friend that I made eclipsed the spiritual experience. A petite 8-year old girl named Lily sat next to me where she aped my every move. If I crossed my legs, she’d do the same. If I sang out of the hymnal, she’d point to the upcoming words for me with her other arm around my waist. If I stood up, she’d stand on her chair so she could be closer in height to me. We made a play date to do hair and play with dolls the following day….or so I thought. While I was in training Monday, Lily found out where I live and knocked on the door two times and asked some of the other aspirantes where she could find me. Turns out, she thought I would buy her and her friends dolls. I saw her with her parents that night and she gave me a big hug and broke off a piece of her twinkie for me. Could a sweet, charismatic 8-year-old girl possibly be trying to con me into buying her toys? I’m not quite sure, but she hasn’t knocked on my door since my host mother told her sternly that I had no intention of buying her a muneca. This afternoon I had another interaction with the youth from my town. 3 little girls came and sat next to me when I was reading. Like most of the other children I’ve met here, they shocked me with how gregarious they all were. This time, however, I was a bit more guarded. When they asked me to give them my bracelet and turtle earrings, I responded with an emphatic “No!”, and explained that as a Peace Corps volunteer, I did not have the means to provide them with jewelry…just in case they were under the impression that this gringa is a gringa who will fall for their charm and play Santa Claus. (Though they were all so cute and had I stuck around any longer, they might have had me…ahh there is much to get used to here. Poco a poco)