Send in the Clowns

Alrighty…So, I´ve fallen off of the blog band wagon for close to a month now and I suppose that I owe a  debt of one monstrous blog…Here we go, I will do my best to make up for my absence…

Since I last wrote, a great deal of changes have occurred on my life, most importantly, I am no longer an aspirante (trainee) but rather a voluntaria (volunteer)! We had a lovely induction ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru on Friday the 20th of August. I must note here that the U.S. Embassy here is a rather imposing building, and when I can finally get my pictures all loaded online, you truly must refer to them! It was a simple and succinct ceremony (Thank goodness! For while you can flush toilet paper in the U.S. Embassy, their air conditioning does not seem to be functioning…). The country director for PEace Corps Peru gave a short speech of introduction and was followed up by Kelsi´s host father from Chaclacayo speaking on the important role that host families play in our training (and beyond, to be honest). Next, we received a short speech from a man in the U.S. Embassy, who, as it turns out has been in this country even less time than we have and afforded us a compliment when he stated that we are “living his dream” by serving in the Peace Corps. He was followed up by one of Peru 15´s very own, Ryan, who spoke on the behalf of our group; last, but certainly not least, we were inducted as Peace Corps Peru 15 volunteers. I can´t begin to describe the feelings of this moment, as it felt surreal on the whole with moment of extreme clarity and realization…However, as we rode the bus to our hostel that evening I found myself fighting back tears as I watched Peruvian daily life pass by out my window, for I could not feel more grateful to be serving here in Peru, learning daily from the people here and attempting to give back a portion of what I have gained from my experiences here.

I have now been at my site in Salaverry, Peru for just over a week, and while I feel I have made very little headway on the Community Diagnostic that is to be done, I have had a very interesting week filled with a large variety of cultural experiences. First of all, on my first full day at site I called my counterpart at the health post, and she insisted on me joining a desfile (parade) for the health post at midday, despite my resistance and desire to simple settle and unpack my belongings. I feel the need to pause here and emphasize the importance of parades to Peruvians; they seem to feel that they are perfect for any occasion: saint celebrations, Independence Day, pest control… Anyways, I show up at the post at noon, only to be escorted to a school (actually my host family´s Catholic school) where a large group of small children were waiting, signs in hand, to desfilar (vt. parade) with us. This was quite a site to be seen, as the parade was actually about the peste bubonica (Bubonic Plague) that has been worrying the health post since before my site visit three weeks ago. The children all had signs, which I suppose were either made by their mothers or teachers, stating such things as “rats kill” and “keep your home clean” with a picture of a rat crossed out. It was all quite humorous to me, but I succeeded in fighting back my laughter of amusement and successfully completed the procession (sans band or any sort of attention-getter). Not sure of the effectiveness of the parade in getting out information about how to prevent the Bubonic Plague, but it was a good time…

And the Parades Continue…

 I feel the need to mention that both my host mother and aunt (who lives with us) are teachers at the parochial school in town, where all of my brothers attend, before continuing with my next parade scenario…As my first week began to unfold, my host aunt, Rosita, kept going on and on about the Virgen of Otuzco (a town in the sierra of La Libertad about 3 hours from here) visiting Salaverry, the neighboring towns, and finishing up in Turjillo. Side note, in Latin America each town has it´s own statue of the virgin Mary that is usually gaudily dressed and has day of celebration in her honor. Not being a Catholic, and especially not having much of a clue about Catholicism in Latin America, I could not even begin to guess the significance of such an event, so I decided to attend the procession for the Virgen in Salaverry on Thursday afternoon. Little did I know that this particular virgen is very popular and has quite the following! 

The procession began innocently enough with three different dancing groups: devils, gypsies and “negritos” (people wearing burlap sacks and faces painted black, I kid you not!). I was having an enjoyable time watching the typical dances on the side of the road with my host mom and aunt and their co-workers, and was quite excited to be experiencing something so cultural in my first days at site…then the virgin turned the corner mounted on the flatbed of a semi…At this point all hell broke loose (forgive the poor play on words), and all of a sudden all of Salaverry, it seemed, was flooding the streets and sidewalks to process alongside of the virgin. It was complete chaos! People were pushing and shoving their way forward, and I couldn´t help but get pushed along with the crowd for fear of being trampled. Thus, I was separated from my host family and pushed along as the procession continued. The truck bearing the virgin stopped at points to receive offering of flowers from various vendors, and every time it paused so did the procession of people. I kid you not, despite the craziness, they would all pause to stare in adoration at the virgin and chant “Viva la Virgen de la Puerta!” Also, as the procession continued, I stared wide-eyed as babies were passed among the crowd toward the virgin, then held up to make the sign of the cross in front of her…People also fought their way toward her to hold Bibles and photos up to her, kiss her, and steal one of the flowers from her offering. It was quite the experience to say the least!

…And Yet Another Parade…

On Friday morning my host family´s school had the opening ceremony for their 9th annual Olympic games, and ever the opportunist when it comes to entertaining situations, I decided to tag along and witness the event. Boy am I glad I did! It was quite the spectacle that began with–guess what–a parade! Each grade from age three to Secondaria had their own uniform with designated team colors and mascots. The mascots were people dressed in “fuzzy” costumes–Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Scooby Doo were all in attendance! There was also a band and a group bearing flags of all the countries that participate in the Olympics (which, funnily enough, Peru is not one).

The parade ended at a sports stadium in town, and a torch was lit, and both the Peruvian National Anthem and the Anthem of Salaverry (I was previously unaware of it´s existance) were sung. Then the flag bearers (my oldest host brother included) then did a flag formation. This was followed by an announcement that all of the mascots were to come into the center of the court; and, I kid you not, they then proceeded to have a dance-off between the mascots. Winnie the Pooh won, in case you were curious. Each class then presented a dance that they had prepared ahead of time. I believe that the groups of 3, 4, and 5 year olds were my favorite to watch in all their cluelessness…Overall, it was a very entertaining spectacle and an interesting finish to my first week in Salaverry.

…One Final Procession…

Having already experienced the madness of the virgin in Salaverry, I cannot quite explain what compelled me to join the professors once more when they went to Trujillo Sunday evening to despedida (say good-bye) to the virgin, call it a momentary lapse in judgement or pure cultural curiosity, but I decided to join the crew on the paseo to Trujillo…Here I endured over five hours of Catholicism. First, there was a service on a stage constructed in the Plaza de Armas alongside the church that lasted over an hour and included a lot of chanting about the virgin. Then, the cool part occurred when a tower of cool fireworks display was ignited–never seen fireworks arranged in such a way! Finally, we stood in the street and watched at the same dance groups of “negritos” and gypsies danced and a person dressed as the devil bearing a whip kept us far enough back as to allow room for the dances. This lasted for close to three hours while we waited for the Virgen de la Puerta to reach us so that we could process with her; however, when 9 pm rolled around and she was still over a block away from us the professors decided to call it a night–thank god! We returned home by around 9:30 or 10 pm, with sore feet, hungry stomachs, and cold noses. While it was not the most fun experience that I have had in Peru thus far, I am glad that I went and experienced such an integral and fascinating part of the culture once more.

A Little Work Amongst the Chaos

It is now Wednesday September 1st, and I have been in Salaverry for about a week and a half. While it may appear that it has all just been one big party for me, I have actually tried to accomplish a few things…I have now visited the Colegio Especial three times. Each time I expect it to be less strange, but this has yet to occur for me. The first time that I went the directora gave me a tour, during which I met seven students–there are supposed to be close to 30 students in this school. She also proceeded to talk at me a with rather lengthy monologues (something that is very difficult for my moderate-at-best level of Spanish). She also told me that there are two students in inclusion programs, both of whom solely have hearing impairments. On my second visit, I came more prepared and ready to find out information that I need to know with pen, notebook and dictionary in hand. In this meeting, she began by informing me of a behavioral issue with one of their older students with Downs Syndrome (36 years old, actually) in which she is taking school materials home. When I suggested that she set the student down, explain that they are school items and ask the student where in the classroom she would like to put them, then make a daily routine of placing the items in the student-designated spot at the end of each day, she seemed in awe of such an idea. The idea of autonomy seems to be new here. Also, Peru does not have privacy laws, she went through the roster of students and provided me with each student´s name, disability, hometown, family situation, and possible reasons for lack of attendance. Today, on my third visit to the Colegio Especial, the directora finished the list of students for me, then attempted to go off again on a lengthy monologue. Luckily, I was able to intervene at an appropriate point with questions about IEPs, which it turns out they do not have. She lent me a massive text that supposedly deals with such material, but which I suspect might just be adaptive activity ideas. I also found out that there are three students in inclusive programs, all of whom solely have hearing impairments, and none of whom are in neither public schools nor schools in Salaverry. She explained, with great frustration, the role that politics plays in her school since it is owned by the municipality, and also the complete lack of preparedness on the part of the country for the mandatory inclusion programs.

I am still in the preliminary stages of getting to know the Colegio Especial, but I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me yet. I think it might be a good idea to do house visits with the directora to the homes of students who do not come to school; though I have yet to mention this thought to her. Also, the school is currently being shared with a colegio from one of the surrounding pueblo jovenes, and apparently is on the verge of being moved or closed down in order for the Alcalde to build a hospital as part of his campaigning. I have very little clue as to what I will be good for in this school, but think that I could possibly introduce the use of IEPs and also inclusive rec programs with the students from the conveniently located pueblo joven colegio. I just hope that I can make something good happen for this school…

I also have a lot a work ahead of me in the coming weeks as I need to locate and visit all the secondaria schools in town, meet the alcade, and just meet more people in general. While daunting at first, this is seeming more feasible to me with each passing day as I continue to get acclimated and become more comfortable with my Spanish. Also, this Sunday I will be attending my first Scout meeting. The priest at the local Catholic church, who happens to be a good friend of my family, has a Scout group (boys and girls here) that meets in Trujillo. I look forward to this meeting in part because it is another youth group to get to know and in part because I have been informed that there is a pool and we get swim time! Yay! Here´s looking forward to Sunday and hoping to achieve more work in the coming days! Chao for now!