Tuesday, March 31, 2009

All Smiles

I made a new friend today--female, which are few are far between here. They seem to disappear once they reach age 16...don´t ask me where to, but i think it involves having babies and slaving over a a wood-fired stove top. The new English teacher is awesome! She is 25, hip, and really outgoing. She has promised to teach me to dance in exchange for help with her english pronunciation. :)

I have yet to become jaded with my life here, though recently it has become a lot more, well, ¨Peace Corps¨. We no longer have running water in my site. The rains carried off the pipes and the whole town is without running water. They won´t be able to begin reconstruction until rainy season is completely over. This is the one time in my life that I wish I had a letrine like the rest of the community, because flush toilets that don´t flush, are rather disgusting. Bathing has become a luxury. I won´t divulge how often I enjoy said luxury, but lets just say it is not frequently. Three times a week the municipality delivers 3 buckets of water per household. The system isn´t ideal, as my family is just 3 people, while others have as many as 15 people living together. Also, the delivered water is from the thermal waters in the next town over and has a high sulfur content. It is useful for washing dishes, and bucket flushing the toilets, but not great for consumption. While we do have a river, we have to cross the chacras and then this swampy land and thorny brush to get to it..not the best conditions for hauling water. All that said, I am slowly getting used to life without running water. It is amazing how well you can live on such little water. You really don´t need that much to get clean or wash dishes. I can´t believe how much water I was wasting before all this happened.

Despite these minor hardships, life is good. I smile everyday at the beautiful landscape that surrounds me, the warm people I encounter, and the amazing experiences I have. I apologize for being out of touch with life back home, but that really just means that I am having the time of my life here. Please don´t worry. love you and miss you all.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Things Patty misses from the States (in no particular order):

Mom, Dad, and Kath-a-leeny

Food: Indian, falafel, Sushi, brown rice, and Thai

Jazz Clubs

Carpets

Couches

Autumn

Ice cubes in my beverages

Not having to boil my water before consuming it/the ability to order a free glass of water in a restaurant

Hot water

Not being eaten alive by insects

Coffee shops—Can’t say I was the biggest coffee drinker but I was a sucker for the coffee shop culture. I wish there was a Mirasols in Cajamarca.

Flea-free dogs that don’t run around the streets looking like mongrels—you never know which ones are safe to approach.

Punctuality

Apricots

Libraries

Not having to really focus and try with all my might to understand what people are saying—it can get exhausting, though I still relish the challenge and am determined to keep on. Hopefully it will eventually get easier.

Not being the tallest person in town (which I legit am in La Grama)

Bathrooms equipped with toilet paper, toilet seat, sink, and soap---and the ability to flush.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009