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.