Life at 10,000 Feet Above Sea Level

Hello from Peru! Last Sunday I started my week off by going to a bullfight. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't looking forward to watching a bull get killed but once I got there I was able to appreciate the culture behind it. The event started out with a marching band followed by a performance by Peruvian Paso horses. The main event got started with some politically incorrect rodeo clowns chasing being chased around by the younger bulls. This was entertaining despite the fact that I was somewhat offended by the man in black face with balloons to give him a voluptuous butt and chest. I still haven't gotten used to the open commentary on race and physical appearance. The idea of political correctness does not exist in the same way it does in the United States
On Wednesday night we left for our first field based training, which means we got to visit the sites where volunteers are currently living. The environment volunteers went to the department of Ancash, home of the most famous Andean glaciers. The most famous climbs and treks in Peru leave from the capitol of Ancash, Huaraz. In order to get there, we took a night bus, which was the most comfortable form of transportation that I have ever used. The seats are much larger than first class airplane seats and recline to almost flat (although you can pay slightly more to have seats that become full beds). I was able to sleep the entire night and wake up to vistas of the Cordillera Blanca, the most famous section of the Peruvian Andes.
We arrived in Huaraz at 6:30 in the morning and went directly to our first site visit. I could feel myself breathing panting as my body tried to acclimate to the lack of oxygen at 10,000 feet. The first site we visited was at the base of the highest tropical glacier in the world, Huascaran. All of the community members that I met throughout field-based training only spoke Quechua amongst each other and would switch to Castellano only when talking to us. This makes the sites in the Andes difficult because the volunteers only speak the second language of the community members. The towns around this area live off of the trekking industry by renting out rooms in their houses and hauling hiker's gear on their donkeys. We went up to a glacial lake to talk to the park guards about park management and look at the tree nursery that is a part of the reforestation project currently underway in Huascaran National Park. We also got a chance to talk to the members of the various tourist service organizations including artisans, boat drivers, and people who sell amazing food. That night, I stayed in a modernized version of a traditional farmer's hut that one of the community members had built to rent out to tourists. When I complimented the building, the owner offered to build me one, which I had to politely decline, a skill that I have acquired since moving to Peru.
The second morning, we woke up for a community trash clean up at 6 am. Every community that I have encountered so far has events called faenas, which are mandatory community maintenance and service days. It was an honor to be able to participate even though I had to get up at dawn. After the clean up, we headed to our next site which was incredible different from the first in that it lacked discipline and organization. We looked at the tree nursery and planted a few native tree species where we could find space amongst the thousands of Eucalyptus trees that have been introduced because of their quick growth and long, straight trunks. One of our challenges as PCVs is to convince people that it is worthwhile to grow trees other than Eucalyptus, a species that dramatically degrades soil quality because of its high levels of nutrient and water uptake.
That evening, we helped the current volunteers to prepare their Halloween costumes for the next night. While I curled ribbons to look like feathers for a parrot costume, my friend Olivia and our technical trainer Lane worked very hard to braid and sew beads into the volunteers beard for a Johnny Depp inspired pirate costume. That night after a meal of guinea pig and about 7 potatoes, I had the pleasure of using a squat latrine for the first time in my life.
On the final day of field-based training, I headed to another small community where I made a presentation on building a micro relleno (a simple landfill) and composting. The talk went very well and the community members even participated in the activity that I had planned at the end. For lunch, I was again served guinea pig (or cuy to Peruvians), but this time I was served the head, which I traded with the language instructor who was accompanying our group because, according to him, it is the best part of the cuy. Personally, I couldn't bring myself to gnaw what little meat there was off of the skull of the cuy. Instead, I got to gnaw a very small amount of meat off the hind leg of the guinea pig (which looks pretty much like a rat when stripped of its fur).
After lunch on Saturday, we headed into Huaraz to hang out until our bus left at 11 pm. From the main square of Huaraz, I was able to see more than 5 snow covered peaks, which made it the most majestic plaza that I have ever seen. During our time in Huaraz I went to the artisan market where bought a necklace of seeds called Huayruros which are said to bring luck and protection. Around dinnertime, Halloween really started picking up and I was caught off guard by the children trick or treating in the streets. We were constantly being asked for candy while we ate at a sidewalk café. When we would tell the kids that we didn't have any, some got pretty insistent and we even got a few death stares from the mothers. I was surprised by how common it was in Huaraz to participate in this American tradition.
Today, I got home at 7 am and am currently resting up for another big week of training. While I write, I am watching the episode of South Park where guinea pigs aided by Donald Rumsfeld aim to take over the world. It is a very appropriate thing to be watching given the amount of guinea pig I have consumed in the last three days. This has been a crazy week and there will be much more to come as I enter the final stretch of training. I am looking forward to getting to site and getting my two years underway. I also received tons of mail last week, which was awesome! Thank you to all who sent it. I can't send much because it is incredibly expensive and I am living on an allowance of about $2 a day but I will try and respond by email ASAP! I hope life is good back in the USA! Keep me posted everyone!