Queens of Controversy

This week I put on a recycled fashion show and contest where all of the contestants were dressed in outfits made completely of recycled material. The event was well attended and served its purpose of making the school children think about recycling, the amount of waste we generate, and environmental issues in general. The success of this event was due to the creativity of the contestants, their teachers, and their parents. The costumes ranged from a wedding dress made completely of plastic bags to typical dress from all regions of Peru, to a bunny rabbit. The universally high quality of the outfits was both a blessing and a curse because, although the event was overwhelmingly impressive, the judging was difficult. I invited three of my friends from nearby communities to act as guest judges and, as it turns out, I was throwing them to the lions. I didn't realize beforehand that an innocent contest for children could get so ugly as soon as winners were announced. Thankfully, one of my friends had the foresight to come up with judging criteria and a scoring system or we would have all been lunchmeat for the losers. At least with these bases covered, we had some kind of explanation but this didn't help the fact that some teachers and parents weren't there to lose. After a large public protest of the judges' decisions, my judges aren't sure if they will ever be able to show their faces in Pacora again and I am not sure if I am still welcome in all the schools. One thing that I learned from this experience is that it is a much better idea to do an exposition than a contest. The lack of prizes may deter some participants but it is better than being blacklisted by entire institutions. Only time will tell how this all will turn out but at the moment I am glad I have a meeting in Lima all week next week so that I can let people cool off a bit. On the up side, my project also served as a lesson in sportsmanship, a concept that evidently needs to be addressed in my site.

In other news, I have had many new experiences in the last week or two that are blog worthy. First of all, I got to be a godmother of my five year old host cousin when she was sworn into the eco-brigades at her school. This is a great honor and now she calls me "madrina Dani" which literally means godmother Dani. Her mom also calls me "comadre" which translates to co-mother. It is great to feel so integrated into the community and its traditions. My other new experience this week was more gross than the first. I have slowly but surely been expanding my gastronomic repertoire. So far the more adventurous things that I have eaten include sheep testicles, various types of intestines, literally every part of the chicken, all kinds of internal organs, pig ear (complete with little bits of hair), guinea pig (obviously) and, most recently, cow tongue. This definitely isn't the craziest thing I've eaten but it was gross nonetheless. I went out to lunch with a couple of friends and we ordered the menu of the day. When our food came I asked what it was and my friends said beef. Within a few minutes my friend decided to go back to her office at the health post to get the lunch she had packed. I asked why and my other friends told me it was because she didn't want to eat tongue. I had already finished my plate so I gagged a little and then we all laughed for a while when I explained to them that I had no idea and that it was my first time eating tongue. Overall, it wasn't that unpleasant but the idea still grosses me out. These little culinary mishaps and adventures definitely keep me on my toes. I end up laughing at myself all the time for being so clueless and I have been lucky enough to find some Peruvian friends who appreciate my situation and laugh with me.

Night Time in Peru

The situation that I am in at the moment that I am writing this pretty much epitomizes my life as Peace Corps volunteer. I overcaffeineated during my Starbucks session this afternoon so there is not much chance of me falling asleep at a reasonable hour. Starbucks lures me in every time I am in Chiclayo with its promise of air conditioning, Joni Mitchell, wireless internet, anonymity, and real coffee (I drink mostly instant down here as the export the good stuff to, you guessed it, Starbucks). I think of Starbucks as "my office" because it provides the most conducive environment for real work time. Anyway, back to the current situation. It is almost midnight and I am in my sleeping bag watching The Wire on my computer and making flowers out of plastic bags to decorate my costume for the recycled fashion show I am organizing. My stomach started grumbling so I snuck out of my room for a snack only to be met by creepy scurrying sounds as I approached the kitchen. Not willing to face rats, roaches, and whatever else might be out there, I ran back to my room and here I am again with the Wire and my recycled flowers. This situation is not only typical in the literal sense, it sums up the mix of emotions that I feel on a day to day basis:

1. Thankful for the down time to watch entire seasons of shows at a time
2. Frustration that even the little things (i.e. grabbing a midnight snack or getting my sheets dry in time to sleep on) are difficult or uncomfortable
3. Excited about upcoming projects and events
4. Struggling to strike a balance between my current life as an honorary Peruvian and my past life as a Starbucks fiend

The Peace Corps isn't difficult because of the obvious differences like not having running water 24 hours a day. That stuff is kind of fun to go without because you come to know what to expect pretty quickly. The tough part is when the small things you need to keep yourself sane and comfortable aren't right there at your fingertips. Excuse the cliché but the best way to describe the Peace Corps experience is an emotional rollercoaster where you not only go up and down but sometimes conflicting emotions occur simultaneously. Right now I am frustrated and uncomfortable but also thrilled that my plastic bag flowers look great and I get to feel like I'm camping in my sleeping bag.

This week has been filled with little ups and downs but this moment was just too representative of my life to not highlight it. My main tasks lately have been distributing wall mounted bottle holders for hand washing, planning the recycled fashion contest, working with my newly formed environmental brigades in the schools, and pushing for the funding that the volunteers before me were promised by the municipality. Every step comes with its frustrations but every time the problems that make me pull my hair out resolve themselves with a little bit of persistence on my part. Luckily, I have two local counterparts in particular and countless contacts who share in the burden of pursuing lofty goals.
The big thing this week is the recycled fashion show to celebrate the international day of the environment. I have already seen some of the outfits and posted pictures on facebook. I am thrilled because everything I have seen so far is better than the examples that I found on the internet. I even invited my fellow Peace Corps volunteers in the area to be guest judges and I can't wait for them to see how creative and organized my town is. In the next couple of days I have to tie up some loose ends that are worrying me (getting prizes and certificates for the winners, making sure we have an amplifier in working order, etc) but overall I am pretty confident. I wish my friends from home could share in this experience with me. If anyone gets a chance to come to Peru make sure you get up to Pacora! I have already scheduled a work party to plant a community garden when my parents and grandma come in late June.