I finally got over my aversion to petting my dog puppy (pronounced poopy). His name comes from a brand of soap by the same name that had a puppy as a mascot. The Spanish pronunciation of the vowel "u" means that Peruvians pronounce this English word as poopy. The name is pretty fitting for my dog. This mangy little terrier is missing splotches of hair and is constantly covered in all manner of nasty bugs. For the longest time I never pet him because I don't want to catch any sort of mange, fleas, ticks, or other nasty critters. Little poopy is so friendly that I have recently given in and started to play with him. I do a daily tick check and pull off as many as I can before I play with him but I usually still end up with one crawling on my leg looking for a good place to latch on and suck my blood. Since I am the only person that will actually pet him, poopy follows me all around town and helps me with my tasks. It must be quite comical for the townspeople to see the tall white girl walking around followed by this splotchy little creature who has lost all the hair on his tail.
This past week I had to leave my little friend Poopy to go celebrate Carnaval in the beautiful Andean city of Cajamarca. Over 100 volunteers had showed up for this legendary three-day party. The highlight of the weekend was running around the streets with squirt guns and paint and taking part in epic battles between the various neighborhoods. Gangs made up of people of all ages run around the streets with buckets of paint, water balloons, squirt guns, and other weapons all the while beating on drums and chanting. I purchased my water gun and water balloons, dressed in my rattiest clothes and joined the fray. I was worried that I would hate the experience because of the strangers running up and rubbing paint all over me but as soon as the first person grabbed my face and rubbed paint all over it, I was hooked. I definitely got hit more than I was able to hit others but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Every so often I would take a dance break with one of the drummer gangs and then continue on my way. Around 1 pm the skies opened up in typical rainy season fashion adding to all of the chaos. By this time I was completely blue including my face (luckily I had worn old sunglasses) and the rain caused me to start shivering. I tried to tough it out but right as I was getting remotivated a group of kids with buckets started shoveling buckets of gutter water onto the group that I was with. I had seen men peeing in these same gutters all day long not to mention all the nasty stuff that runs off the streets and I couldn't take it. At this point I was soaked to the bone and shivering and decided to give up. The day had been awesome but I had reached my limit so I headed back to my hotel and indulged in a very long, hot shower. It took me at least two more showers to get the blue tint out of my skin and feel fresh and free of grime and urine but, I had an excellent and memorable carnaval. Now I feel ready to take on Rio and New Orleans in order to enjoy excess before lent. I am, however, not so sure that I am ready to give up chocolate for the next 40 days. I'll probably just take up caramel or vanilla.
After my weekend of delicious food, excellent volunteer company, and outrageous celebrations, it was time for me to get back to site. When I walked back into my house Poopy immediately started jumping around and wagging his little hairless rat tail. I reached down to pet him and was not surprised when a couple minutes later I looked down to find a tick crawling up my leg. I have found that the key to surviving this experience is laughing at the ridiculousness of everyday occurrences.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Am I really Killing Your Baby? Myths Versus Reality in Peru
Before starting in on this blog I need to set the scene a little bit so you can better understand some of the little things that affect my day-to-day life. I am sitting on my mattress without sheets because I was getting little bites all over my legs and even on my butt. After inspection, I found that my sheets are filled with biting ants and I know exactly how this infestation started. I washed my sheets a couple of days ago and hung them out to dry. During the process of drying outside, they filled with ants. One of my daily frustrations is that my clothes actually seem to come out dirtier after I wash them because as they dry, they fill with ants, dust, and leaves. As I look around, I realize that the ants have also infested my mattress and the only solution I think of at the moment is to make myself a nice little bed involving a sleeping bag and a yoga mat on my floor. Camping on my own floor almost sounds fun but in the long run I think I'm going to resort to spraying my mattress with some sort of chemical. Constant contact with the elements due to shoddy construction leaves me exposed to lots of critters and in the summer, when the insects come out, this exposure becomes almost unbearable. Maybe I'll end up sleeping on my floor until ant season is over, at least it is nice and cool close to the cement.
This weekend one of the hot cumbia bands of the moment came to my friend's site and, not having attended any concerts in a while, I decided to dance the night away. We assemble d a group of gringos and had a big night of Peruvian style fun. First, we invited the neighbors over who taught us to make pisco sours, the cocktail of Peru involving lime, sugar, and egg whites all whipped together and spiced up with a bit of pisco, the typical Peruvian liquor. When we got to the concert security helped us cut the line and then we took to the stage to dance with the band. It will be very strange to get back to America where I will not be treated like a VIP nor will I get away with stuff like jumping up on stage and demanding to dance with the band at concerts. Although I don't really like being watched all the time, it is nice to get away with whatever I want.
I recently had an incident in which I ended up taking on an entire van full of passengers in order to not suffocate in the sweltering heat. I got on the van in the hottest part of the day and opened my window. I considered this to be a completely normal thing to do but apparently the air that I was letting in was incredibly harmful to the baby in the seat behind me and as soon as we started moving the mother slid my window shut. I looked back at her and opened the window again. This action was met with an angry response by the mother about how the air was going to make her baby sick. Just so you have a clear picture in your head. It was about 100 degrees in the afternoon sun, the vehicle was a 15 passenger van crammed with 20 passengers, and the baby was swaddled in blankets. I refused to shut the window saying that the heat was more of a danger than the air only to be lashed out at by everyone in the van. I held my own and went about my business reading my book with my arm wedged in the window. My run in with this Peruvian belief gave me the idea to write a blog about some of the other seemingly irrational beliefs, fears, and superstitions that come up on a daily basis. Below are some of my favorite examples of advice I have received:
1. Don't go outside in a breeze if you aren't feeling well or if you are a baby. I mention this first because it comes up nearly every day and no matter how hot it is, people are terrified of "el aire." I have even heard some claims that particularly strong winds can paralyze you.
2. The other most common belief that I hear is that drinking cold beverages at night or when one is sick will make you very sick. If you eat too many popsicles, severe respiratory illnesses will ensue. A woman once told me that her daughter's respiratory problems resulted from eating too many popsicles during pregnancy.
3. Recently, my host family freaked out when I tried to go outside to go to the bathroom after eating hot soup because it would leave my mouth twisted to one side in a really awkward expression for the rest of my life. I found this particularly hilarious because, unlike the other superstitions I have heard, I can't come up with a rational explanation for the cause and effect at play.
4. In the same conversation about how cold air after hot food will twist your mouth, my family told me that they know someone who got their neck permanently twisted because they opened the refrigerator in the morning when their body was still warm from being under the covers in bed.
5. One belief common in the Andean regions of Peru is on the scarier side and has been known to affect the ability of volunteers to integrate into their communities. Many people believe in pishtacos, a demon in the service of the devil that kills people and sucks out their fat. These demons have light skin and hair, therefore some people have commented on their resemblance to male volunteers.
I generally find the beliefs and superstitions entertaining except when they threaten to keep me enclosed in a moving oven in the hot summer. I don't know if I handled my particular situation very well by confronting a bus-load of people about their deeply ingrained beliefs but standing up for myself has become instrumental in maintaining my sanity. I wonder what Peruvians would say if they knew that I sleep with a fan blowing on me…
This weekend one of the hot cumbia bands of the moment came to my friend's site and, not having attended any concerts in a while, I decided to dance the night away. We assemble d a group of gringos and had a big night of Peruvian style fun. First, we invited the neighbors over who taught us to make pisco sours, the cocktail of Peru involving lime, sugar, and egg whites all whipped together and spiced up with a bit of pisco, the typical Peruvian liquor. When we got to the concert security helped us cut the line and then we took to the stage to dance with the band. It will be very strange to get back to America where I will not be treated like a VIP nor will I get away with stuff like jumping up on stage and demanding to dance with the band at concerts. Although I don't really like being watched all the time, it is nice to get away with whatever I want.
I recently had an incident in which I ended up taking on an entire van full of passengers in order to not suffocate in the sweltering heat. I got on the van in the hottest part of the day and opened my window. I considered this to be a completely normal thing to do but apparently the air that I was letting in was incredibly harmful to the baby in the seat behind me and as soon as we started moving the mother slid my window shut. I looked back at her and opened the window again. This action was met with an angry response by the mother about how the air was going to make her baby sick. Just so you have a clear picture in your head. It was about 100 degrees in the afternoon sun, the vehicle was a 15 passenger van crammed with 20 passengers, and the baby was swaddled in blankets. I refused to shut the window saying that the heat was more of a danger than the air only to be lashed out at by everyone in the van. I held my own and went about my business reading my book with my arm wedged in the window. My run in with this Peruvian belief gave me the idea to write a blog about some of the other seemingly irrational beliefs, fears, and superstitions that come up on a daily basis. Below are some of my favorite examples of advice I have received:
1. Don't go outside in a breeze if you aren't feeling well or if you are a baby. I mention this first because it comes up nearly every day and no matter how hot it is, people are terrified of "el aire." I have even heard some claims that particularly strong winds can paralyze you.
2. The other most common belief that I hear is that drinking cold beverages at night or when one is sick will make you very sick. If you eat too many popsicles, severe respiratory illnesses will ensue. A woman once told me that her daughter's respiratory problems resulted from eating too many popsicles during pregnancy.
3. Recently, my host family freaked out when I tried to go outside to go to the bathroom after eating hot soup because it would leave my mouth twisted to one side in a really awkward expression for the rest of my life. I found this particularly hilarious because, unlike the other superstitions I have heard, I can't come up with a rational explanation for the cause and effect at play.
4. In the same conversation about how cold air after hot food will twist your mouth, my family told me that they know someone who got their neck permanently twisted because they opened the refrigerator in the morning when their body was still warm from being under the covers in bed.
5. One belief common in the Andean regions of Peru is on the scarier side and has been known to affect the ability of volunteers to integrate into their communities. Many people believe in pishtacos, a demon in the service of the devil that kills people and sucks out their fat. These demons have light skin and hair, therefore some people have commented on their resemblance to male volunteers.
I generally find the beliefs and superstitions entertaining except when they threaten to keep me enclosed in a moving oven in the hot summer. I don't know if I handled my particular situation very well by confronting a bus-load of people about their deeply ingrained beliefs but standing up for myself has become instrumental in maintaining my sanity. I wonder what Peruvians would say if they knew that I sleep with a fan blowing on me…
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