Ludivina (my host mom) La Luz Divina (the divine light)

February is over which means I have been away from home for almost 6 months! Even though days move slowly here at times, the weeks and months fly by. Some mornings seem to go on forever and I often find myself saying good afternoon at nine in the morning. This is mainly due to the fact that I am always up before 6:30 and generally by 9 I have run errands, eaten a meal (or two) and gone for a run. It feels amazing to be productive and I am starting to have something to show for my persistence. I am getting projects off the ground and now that school is about to start I will have a captive audience for my environmental lectures and campaigns. I am really looking forward to this resource as the teachers have proven to be supportive and motivated allies.
This week I have started working with another very exciting counterpart, the archeologist who is uncovering a Pre-Incan pyramid surrounded by houses and other remnants of the Sican Culture. He approached me because one of his goals is to attract tourists to the region and the access to the ruins is completely covered in trash. I have been very busy working with his secretary to put together a document for the mayor that outlines the problem and some suggestions for solving it. We then presented this to the municipality and they have promised to attend our weekly trash committee meeting. I am apprehensive to put too much faith in the municipality but I think their attendance at our meeting will give the trash committee a say in outlining and implementing a sustainable trash management strategy. As it is now, the municipality won't do anything because it will be too expensive but, with the support of the committee and other local institutions, I believe we can find low cost ways to decrease the amount of trash dumped on the edges of town. Some of my suggestions have included a dumpster at the market and a mini landfill where the municipal workers can put the waste they collect during street sweepings. The task of cleaning up Pacora is so enormous that I am trying to focus on simple, low cost solutions and education through the schools for the long term. I would consider it a huge success if I could even just get the municipal workers to stop throwing all the trash they collect in the river. This new focus on tourism and my partnership with the archeologist have given me a second wind of optimism.
In non-work related news, I attended another concert of my favorite cumbia boy band, Hermanos Yaipen. This time, I brought my host mother and two other Peace Corps volunteers. It was very exciting to once again engage in the debauchery that ensues when a bunch of adolescent girls come together to express their love for overly groomed guys singing pop hits. I am much more into this scene than I would like to admit. My host mother was even more excited than I was and at one point charged up to the stage and demanded that the heart throb of the group give her his hand. She was grinning ear to ear after her handshake with THE Cristian Dominguez! Since I had been in the bathroom when they passed out the calendars and other autographed paraphernalia, I insisted we go to intercept the band as they boarded their tour bus. One of the band members (the older one who doesn't wear hair gel, thus making him less likely to get crushed by teenage girls) was standing outside the bus shaking hands and signing autographs. My host mom then took this opportunity to invite the band to dinner at our house and give them our address. He politely smiled and nodded as my friends and I laughed hysterically at the whole interaction. I walked away from this experience with a newfound appreciation for my host mother. I only hope I am as cool as her at 65.