Chau for Now

Today was a day unlike any other.  A day I hope I never have to experience again.  A day I both HATED and LOVED Peace Corps at the same time.  Today I helped my best friend Brielle move out of her host family’s house.

Why was this day so hard for me, when it wasn’t even MY host family?  Because Juana, Brielle’s host mom, is the most loving, down-to-earth, sincere Peruvian I have ever met.  Juana is sarcastic.  She likes to joke about dying before her (recently achieved) 60^th birthday.  She likes to drink beer on Sundays.  She likes to drink beer on Wednesdays.  She likes to drink beer in the afternoon when she gets home from a hard days’ work in the chakra.  Juana is an incredibly hard worker.  She is up before the sun rises, doing back-breaking labor in her family’s rice, mango, and tamarindo fields.  She makes breakfast and lunch for her large family, and enjoys eating every single meal with them.  Her husband, whom she still loves very much, died over 10 years ago, leaving her with their six children.  Juana has a beautiful rose garden on her front porch, in which her late husband used to pick her a rose every single evening.  Juana loves with all of her heart.  Her family, six kids and 10 grandchildren, mean the world to her.  She will (and does) drop anything to help them out.  If she’s not in the chakra, cleaning the house, taking a nap on the “cool” front porch, or busying herself in some other way, you can find her in her daughter’s house (located just behind hers) helping with her brand new twin godchildren.  Juana loves her grandkids.  She has a tough exterior, but when you put one of her grandchildren in front of her, she melts like a popsicle.  Her love for them overflows.

How do I know all of these things about Juana?  Because Brielle had the privilege of living with this fine woman.  Brielle and Juana got along wonderfully because they are both incredibly sarcastic and dry.  A sarcastic Peruvian is hard to come by, so when we realized how Juana was, we knew we had found a winner.  Juana will tell Brielle when she doesn’t like her nail polish; when her shirt looks bad; when the front porch haircut I gave her looks terrible.  Juana doesn’t hold anything back; good or bad.  And this is why she is so easy to fall in love with.  She may be tough, and she may tell you when you look like you’ve gained a few pounds, but she also loves until the very end.  

At first, Juana was hard to read.  Did she like Brielle?  Did she mind that I visited often, sat down, and talked with her?  Was she weirded out by two gringas taking over her kitchen to make macaroni and cheese?  In regards to the mac and cheese, I’m sure she thought we were crazy, but as for the other stuff, I could tell she liked having us around.  It was the little things that she did that showed us her true self.  One day Brielle calls me hysterically laughing because of an exchange she had just had with Juana.  Juana was in the process of buying a table for Brielle so should could do work and store things there.  Brielle didn’t realize the table was for her, and bought herself another one, too.  It wasn’t until later that Brielle finally realized BOTH tables were for her and that the “crazy words Juana was yelling” were actually telling her that she’d already bought Brielle a table.  Juana didn’t have to buy Brielle a table- but she noticed Brielle sitting on the floor writing on a piece of paper- and she just did it.  Just like Juana didn’t have to clean and sweep Brielle’s room once a week- she just did.  She didn’t have to do Brielle’s laundry- she just did.  She didn’t have to invite me to dinner- she just did.  She didn’t have to give me my own bed in her house- she just did.  That’s Juana, though.  She does things for other people just because she can.  Because she cares.

The moment I realized just how much Juana cared was at her 60^th birthday celebration.  I was lucky enough to have been invited to the festivities, and Brielle and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the family dynamic taking place.  A tradition in the Torres household is to have all of the family members gather around the cake and sing while the birthday person makes a wish.  Brielle and I were respectfully standing in the back, videotaping and taking pictures, when all of the sudden we hear everyone yelling “ANA! ANA!” (They call her Ana because Brielle is hard to pronounce).  Juana said, “Come up here, stand with us!  You are my 7^th child.”  I almost started crying right then and there.  A woman, who had only known Brielle 8 months, had taken her in as her own, and called her a child.  The love that emanates from that woman is astounding.  It is then that I knew Brielle had hit the host-family jackpot.

Because of my deep respect and love for Juana, today was one of the hardest days of my service.  Brielle has to change sites.  She will be moving to another site in Piura that is bigger, has more work to offer, and most importantly, cleaner.  Brielle has been struggling with health issues ever since she moved to Tamarindo in August, and the only option she had left was to change sites.  Although changing sites will open many doors for Brielle, it will also close one very important one.  She had to say goodbye to Juana and the rest of her Tamarindo family.

The reason I love and hate Peace Corps all at the same time?  I love it because I was given the opportunity, because I had the privilege to meet and get to know a woman whom I will never forget.  Juana is and will forever be one of my favorite Peruvians.  When she discovered that I was having host-family troubles of my own, she said I was more than welcome to stay at her house whenever I wanted, for as long as I needed.  She was willing to take me in as her second gringa daughter.  I am a better person for knowing Juana.  This is why I love the Peace Corps.

I hate the Peace Corps because of how this situation was handled.  I went with Brielle to pack her things and move some of her stuff out.  We were given explicit orders not to say a word to the family about what was happening.  We couldn’t tell them that Brielle was moving; that she wouldn’t be coming back.  We couldn’t say goodbye.  What makes it worse, is that Juana knew.  She saw us taking down the pictures and posters, folding and packing all her clothes, taking down the mosquito net above the bed.  She knew.  She asked if Brielle was going back to the States.  All we could say was no.  We were told to tell Juana that Brielle was heading to Lima to meet with the doctors.  Brielle was going to Lima with FOUR suitcases and ALL of her clothes.  She was going to Lima, and leaving the rest of her belongings in nice, neat, little piles on her bed, waiting to be picked up by our Regional Coordinator next week when he “explains” the situation to Juana (aka he LIES to her).  She was going to Lima for an indefinite period of time.  Lies, lies, lies.  Juana isn’t stupid- she knew what was happening.  Seeing the look on her face- the hurt, the confusion, the disappointment- broke our hearts.  And we couldn’t do a single thing about it.  As we were loading the rest of the suitcases in our taxi, Juana just stood on the porch, trying not to cry.  Juana is a strong woman, and crying is not something that she does often.  So when I saw the tear that was forming in her eye, I knew just how hurt and upset she was.  When I went in for the side-cheek-kiss to say goodbye, Juana grabbed me in a full-on hug.  She said to me, “Are you leaving, too?  Will you come back to visit me?”  How could I say anything but, “Of course I’ll be back, Juana.”  Brielle and Juana shared a lengthy hug in which Brielle had to lie and say, “I’ll see you in a couple days.”  Neither one of us could look at her without getting teary-eyed.  As we sat in the cab and watched Juana wave on the front porch, we both broke down.  Juana kept on a brave front, but anyone that knows her could tell that she was dying inside.  The last time I saw Juana, she was gripping the back of a patio chair, trying to put a smile on her face.

Thinking about how upset I am, I can hardly imagine how Brielle must be feeling.  Juana was Brielle’s Peruvian mother.  Juana took care of her when she was sick, and worried about her when she wasn’t home in time for dinner.  Juana cared for Brielle like she was one of her own.  My love, thoughts, and prayers go out to both Juana and Brielle as they both have to adjust to a new life.  Apart.

Brielle's empty shelves and table (Juana bought the large one, Brielle bought the tiny one).

Hard to believe anyone could be happy in a room like this, but with Juana's help, anything is possible.

That bench used to be covered in shoes, the wall in posters.

Shrine to Jesus that didn't change when Brielle moved in, and probably never will.

Cardboard box for a roof? Doesn't matter. Juana's personality makes up for it.

One of the new twins.

The other twin.

Brielle with the baby boy.

The two twins together.

Nader, the twins' adorable older brother.

Brielle's last time standing on that porch with Juana.

 Holding back tears.

And then our cab got pulled over on the way back to Piura.

“How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.”

Hanzlicek is Impossible for any Peruvian to Pronounce

I’ve been in Peru for over nine months.  NINE months.  And for those nine months I have missed every single person in my life.  I’ve called, skyped, texted, emailed, facebooked, and even written letters to my loved ones back home.  I’ve dreamt about what it would be like to be able to hug you all or even see you face to face.  And finally, nine months later, one of my dreams came true.  My best friend, Kristen, and her mom landed on Peruvian soil on March 18^th to visit yours truly.  Let me repeat: MY BEST FRIEND WAS IN PERU!!  Kristen and Edna stayed in Peru for a week, and I was able to spend every single minute with them.  I’ll give you a brief synopsis of their time here.

Day 1, Sunday March 18^th:  Kristen and Edna arrived at the Piura airport early in the morning.  I got to the airport right at the time they were supposed to land, so I figured I’d have plenty of time to scout them out and welcome them to Piura. Wrong.  As my moto-taxi pulled into the airport parking lot I see a white person waving frantically at me.  Kristen and Edna had gotten in early and were waiting for me outside the airport!  As soon as my moto slowed down enough for me to jump out, I immediately ran to Kristen and gave her the biggest hug.  I can’t tell you how great it felt to be able to give my best friend a hug after over 9 months apart.  We both started crying tears of joy and of course made a scene in front of all the Peruvians.  I didn’t care though, because I was finally reunited with my best friend!  Nine months of waiting (I just realized that this sounds like I’ve been awaiting a pregnancy… nine months) and finally the moment had arrived when I got to see someone I love very much.  No words can describe how I felt at that moment, and all week.

After a much-needed rest in our AIR- CONDITIONED room we headed with fellow Volunteers Brielle and Lucas to Catacaos, a town about 15 minutes away.  There we enjoyed the food of my favorite ceviche restaurant, Gonzo Azul.  Edna and Kristen tried ceviche, chicharron, and tacu tacu for the first time.  I, of course, love all of these foods, but you should ask them what their take on them was.

Ceviche!

Edna enjoying her first taste of Peruvian food.

Kristen chowing down on some chicharron.

Chicharron, the equivalent of fried fish.

 Tacu Tacu, my favorite Peruvian dish.

Day 2, Monday, March 19^th:  We woke up in our AIR-CONDITIONED room and got ourselves ready to head to the beach town of Yacila, about an hour and a half from Piura.  We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading on the beach.  Kristen and I attempted the water, but only long enough to cool ourselves down from the hot sun.  Speaking of the sun, it was hot, hot, hot, as evidenced by Kristen and mine’s legs the rest of the week!  

 Boats at Yacila Beach.

Beautiful view of the ocean.

Edna, me, and Kristen enjoying the rays

Look at Kristen's awesome sunburn lines.

Day 3, Tuesday, March 20^th:  Site day!!  We packed our bags with tie-dye and white shirts with the ambition of tie-dying shirts with some of my kids.  We arrived to my site just in time for the kids at the elementary school to meet Edna and Kristen before they had to head back to class.  The kids were soooo excited to see other gringas, especially since they were my friends!  Just today I had a group of them ask me about my “amigas gringitas” and if they were going to come back.  It’s amazing how quickly they fall in love.

After showing them the school, we headed to my house so they could see my living arrangements and meet my host parents.  The look on their faces when they saw my bathroom was quite comical, but the looks they gave when they felt the heat of my room were even better!  Kristen talked the rest of the week about how she wanted to buy me a fan!  Kristen and Edna were also able to meet my socias at the health post and talk to them for almost an hour.  And by talk to them, I mean I translated what I could, and they figured out the rest with hand gestures!  The ladies at the health post told me today how incredibly lucky I was to be able to share my life here with my best friend, and I couldn’t agree more.  After the health post visit and a quick introduction to one of my favorite ladies in town, the heat began to get the best of us and we headed back to Piura for the night.

 Kristen and I chillin' in my room at site.

Kristen in my bathroom.  She didn't use it...

Day 4, Wednesday March 21^st:  We arrived at the Piura airport at 6:30am to prepare for our flights to Cusco!  After two short, comfortable flights, and a quick layover in Lima where I was able to indulge in my first McDonald’s meal in nine months (!),  we landed in Cusco around noon.  There we were met by a PeruForLess representative who took us to the hotel and briefed us on the next few days.  Twenty minutes after arriving at the hotel, we were off on our first tour of the day!  We started at the temple Coricancha  near the plaza,” the former Incan headquarters that was later converted into the Convento de Santo Domingo de Cuzco or the Monastery of Santa Catalina, whose 13 remaining nuns may be outnumbered by the mannequins on display.”  From there we headed up into the sierra of Cusco to visit the ruins of the hilltop fortress Sacsayhuaman.  After the amazing views of Sacasyhuaman we headed to the Incan site of Puka Pukara.  We soon headed back into the city to take a tour of the Cathedral in the center of the Plaza.

That night we had some free time to explore the city and walk around a bit.  We decided to eat dinner at the world’s highest altitude Irish pub.  I ate a REAL hamburger and washed it down with the coldest beer I’ve had in nine months!  We may not have taken advantage of the abundance of Peruvian food in Cusco, but I can say with 100% certainty that I don’t regret Paddy’s Pub at all!

Inside the temple of Coricancha.

 

 Giant rock at Sacsayhuaman.

GRASS! I'm laying on GRASS!

Overlooking the mountains at the Incan city of Puka Pukara.

Kristen's first and only Peruvian beer!

 The most delicious hamburger I have had in over nine months! Thanks, Paddy's Pub!

Day 5, Thursday, March 22^nd:  Another early morning (for me) with breakfast under our belt before 8am.  We met our tour guide outside our hotel at 8:30am and hopped in the van with our fellow travelers whom we’d met the day before who just happen to be from St. Louis, Missouri.  Small world.  This day was filled with lots of travel in the van looking out the windows at beautiful countryside and incredible mountains.  Our first stop was at a little market just outside the city.  Here Edna, Kristen, and I bartered with the locals to what seemed to us an incredibly low price for what we were getting, but was probably an entire day’s salary to the Peruvians.  We walked away with a lot more colorful wardrobe and a smile on our faces.

From that mini market we ventured off to Pisac, which is famous for its Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday market full of hand-made artisan products.  The vendors have everything from dye made from herbs, to pure silver, to scarves, to shoes, to woodcarvings, and paintings.  The variety of products was incredible, and it was especially fun to watch the vendors create some of their merchandise.  We had about an hour to browse the different tables, but I probably could have stayed there all day long.

After the famous Pisac market we traveled about 30 minutes to Urubamba where we ate a delicious Peruvian buffet lunch.  That was the first buffet I’d seen in Peru, so it kind of blew my mind to have all of that food in front of us!  After sufficiently stuffing ourselves full of fried bananas and delicious fruit, we hopped back in the van and headed to Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo is an incredible set of ruins that I thought could rival Machu Picchu (the following day I soon found out that I was very wrong).  Nevertheless, the view from the top of the ancient empire was magnificent.  Ollantaytambo is the beginning of the famous Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu.  We could see the trail from where we were, and I decided right then and there that I will probably never make that hike!  Once we were satisfied with our pictures of the beautiful view, we headed back down to the center of town.  We stayed the night in a quaint little hotel in the Ollantaytambo train station with beautiful gardens and a breathtaking view of the mountains in the distance.

At the market in Pisac, with a Sierra woman and her child in traditional clothing.

The view from the temple of Ollantaytambo.

Me and Smells overlooking the city in Ollantaytambo.

 

The view from our hotel room in Ollantaytambo.

Day 5, Friday, March 23^rd:  Machu Picchu!!!  Machu Picchu has been on my list of places to visit ever since I heard about it years ago.  You can imagine my excitement when I learned that my service would be in Peru.  The fact that I got to experience this wonder for the first time with my best friend is such a special treasure.  We started the day early, waking up around 4:45am.  I think it’s safe to say that that’s the earliest I’ve been up since I played club volleyball in high school!  We packed our things, ate a quick breakfast, and boarded the train to Aguas Calientes.  The train ride was about an hour and a half, and we spent it watching the sun rise and looking at the rushing river just below us.  The train was full of travelers from all over the world, just a small preview of what we would see when we actually made it to Machu Picchu!  The train arrived in Aguas Calientes around 8:00am and we were met by another Peru For Less representative who introduced us to our tour guide.  The four of us (tour guide included) loaded the bus that dropped us off right at the entrance of Machu Picchu.  Walking in to Machu Picchu, the view isn’t magnificent; it’s pretty, but nothing like I had seen in pictures.  Then I learned that we had to climb what seemed like a million stairs to make it to the “mirador,” or “look-out point.”  After the strenuous hike up the stairs, with numerous breaks for us sea-level inhabitants, we made it to the mirador.  My goodness, I can’t explain to you the view.  It was early so the sky was still foggy, which made for an incredibly breath-taking view of Machu Picchu in its entirety.  We spent the next two hours hiking around, learning different facts about the ancient ruins.  Hearing all the details about this village and how it was created was unbelievable.  I could write an entire blog post about Machu Picchu and its history, but I’ll save that to the professionals.

After our guided tour was over, we took a quick lunch break to rest up and re-fuel, and headed back into the ruins.  We decided to make a short hike to the Incan bridge, which ended up taking twice as long as we expected.  However, the view was, once again, incredible, and the hike was fun, so we weren’t upset when it took longer.  To get to the bridge we had to walk along a very narrow path that was slippery and wet, and I was literally too scared to move.  Kristen had to talk me though it, and as soon as I could move my feet, everything turned out fine.  Once we headed back from the bridge we were pretty tuckered out from a long day of hiking, and it started to rain, so we did another quick little tour, then headed back down to the town of Aguas Calientes.  There we treated ourselves to less-than sub-par “Mexican food” and waited for our train back to Ollantaytambo.  At Ollantaytambo our driver met us and drove us the hour and a half back to our hotel in Cusco.

Not happy to be up at 5 am

My first picture at Machu Picchu.  Foggy, but still beautiful.

Mother and daughter enjoying the view.

Edna and I on our second trek around the ruins.

No big deal, just hanging out with my best friend at one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Chillin' with my other best friend, the llama.

Pretty incredibly, huh?

 This is after she talked me into moving my feet on the ledge.  If it weren't for her, I'd probably still be there.

 Beautiful look-out point by the Incan bridge.

The parade/demonstration that we watched on our last morning in Cusco. Thousands of people gathered in the Plaza.

Day 6, Saturday, March 24^th:  Last day with Kristen :( We woke up, had a leisurely breakfast, and ventured to the center of town to kill a few hours before we headed to the airport.  As we were sitting on the balcony at Starbucks we were greeted with a GIANT parade consisting of thousands of people who were marching for the rights of unborn children.  Essentially, it was a Pro-Life campaign right in the middle of Cusco.  It was a cool thing to watch and experience, and we kept telling ourselves that it was a going-away party for the three of us!  Soon it was time to head to the airport.  Once there Edna and Kristen were lucky enough to get an earlier flight to Lima so we could all hang out in the Lima airport before parting ways.  I had yet another McDonald’s meal, and then came the time for goodbyes.  It was such a tease to have Kristen with me for a week, and saying goodbye was harder than I expected.  I know I’ll be seeing her in October, but that seems like a million years from now.  As Kristen said, the worst part about her being in Peru was saying goodbye to my best friend :(
 

Now I’m back in Piura, getting some last-minute things planned before I head to Ancash tomorrow with my socio for a week of training.  After that I’m heading to Arequipa with my friend Amanda to visit Richard, another youth Volunteer.  Then I’ll finally be back in site and ready to start some new projects!  I gave my community diagnostic presentation this morning and it went well- I feel like my socios and I have a good platform on which to start building future projects.  Also, I’ve had a few opportunities presented to me for potential host families, so things are looking up in that area, as well.  Slowly but surely, things are coming together.

Until next time, missing you all and thinking about you daily.

“Stay strong.  Do amazing things.  Keep it real.” 
                   -- Kristen Hanzlicek (in a letter she sent me months ago)

Call me. Maybe?

Q:  So, Kelsey, what have you learned in the past 9 months as a PCV?  Have you learned how to live and work in Spanish?  Do you now know what it’s like to live in a developing country?  Have you learned how to deal with less-than-adequate transportation?

A:  Well, yes, I have learned all of those things.  But I think my biggest accomplishment has been to learn what it means to be a dancer in a music video- the blood, sweat, and tears that are involved.  My fellow Piura Volunteers and I slaved over the following video one evening after a regional meeting.  Watch it and get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a PCV in Piura during the summer months.  When people say that we go crazy because of the heat, they may not be too far off.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggtYRLiuDhk&feature=youtu.be

“Hey I just met you, and this is crazy.  But here’s my number, so call me maybe?”