PERUsin' Lady

Me extrano mi Peru mucho!

2009-06-03T17:39:00.002-05:00

It has been nearly exactly 1 month and 1 day since I have arrived back in Canada. Surprisingly, reverse culture shock didn't really occur. Of course the first few days were a bit odd for me, being surrounded by so many caucasians and not greeting people with the regular kiss on both cheeks (I had to actually mentally stop myself from doing so when I saw my professor the day after I returned).

Today I was sitting in the planning studio spending 2.5 hours painting tiny houses grey for our study model. I have spent most of my time the last 2 weeks in the planning studio doing things like painting tiny houses, cutting out contours, sanding down said contours, and a lot of other tedious and mindless stuff that we have to do in urban design courses. Ever since arriving back in Canada, I have been thrown into work so quickly without a moment of respite that I just took it all in so quickly, because I had to. I had to (have to) do this work and today, while sitting painting tiny houses, I just thought about how weird it is that just a month ago, I was trekking around in Bolivia and Peru seeing the most amazing sites in the world and doing some pretty amazing things.

I'm saddened by the fact that I am forgetting Peru so quickly. A lot of it may because I am so busy in Waterloo, that I have no time to reflect or think about my 4 months in South America.

I really missed Canada during the last few weeks of my time in South America. And of course I am happy to be back, but at the same time I am so saddened by the return of normalcy to my life. The monotony of doing things like cutting tiny houses as opposed to the exciting traveling that I was doing in Bolivia and Peru. Even the most mundane thing that I did in Lima, such as grocery shopping or taking the bus - I miss. I miss the bus system and how chaotic it is, I miss Vivanda, the swankiest grocery store I have ever been to. I really miss South American people, and how friendly they are. I remember on my excruciatingly long transit back to Canada, I talked with so many Peruvians so easily. There is something so carefree about South American culture, the people are so friendly and warm. Here, I find that people can be friendly, but talking to a stranger can also get you some really strange looks depending on the person.

Perhaps I am just so fed up with working on this studio model, as I usually am. And fed up with the stress of having to find a co-op position and deadlines up the whazoo. I wish that I could return to my stress easy life in Peru, where after work I would take a leisurely bus ride to my yoga studio and relax. Or on the weekends when sometimes I would just take a walk around my neighbourhood, or go to Miraflores and just walk around, eat at cafes on my own and people watch with a glass or red wine in my hand.

I hope that one day I will return. Lima is a place that I could live in. I love Toronto, and I love Canada. But I know that my heart is never content staying in one place.

Birdy has flown home!

2009-05-17T09:06:00.003-05:00

Birdy has flown home!

It has been nearly 3 weeks since I have arrived back to Canada, after a gruelling 40 some hour journey from Lima to Toronto which involved sleeping on the airport floor with the noisiest “emergency blanket” ever that rather looks like a large sheet of tinfoil and sounds like 10 plastic bags being crumpled. It was much the same feeling of being the first one finished your exam in a quiet exam room, and trying to get the Velcro of your bag open making as little noise as possible.

But I digress, my experiences of being the noisiest person while people are trying to sleep or write an exam has nothing to do with the amazing experience that I gained through my placement with Students Without Borders in Lima, Peru. To recap, my placement was with the Centro de Educacion y Informacion para la Prevencion de Abuso del Drogas (Center of Education and Information for the Prevention of Drug Abuse) in one of their three group homes for vulnerable youth. I volunteered at the Casa Hogares Los Delfines for boys in La Victoria.

Most of my time there, I spent just hanging out with the boys and getting to know them. Other times, I was teaching English, how to use Adobe CS3 programs and sometimes, though less often than not, music via guitar. My role as an international volunteer, as was explained to me by my superior, was to be a positive support figure and to expose the boys to different cultures. I am not sure if I was able to provide that for the boys, shedding as much light as I can on both the Canadian and Chinese culture, but what I took away is something that I would not trade for the world.

While of course, like with most volunteer positions, at times I felt like I was not being utilized to the best of my ability, or I would get stressed out because I didn't know how to approach a situation and other times and sometimes felt like giving up because I wasn't getting through to the boys. But in the end, it doesn't matter how hard, or easy your placement is; it matters what lessons you take away from the placement and whether or not you let these experiences affect the way you live your life in the future.

In my 3 months in Lima, I learned and developed a whole new sense of compassion. Being no stranger to working with youth, I thought that the relationships that I developed with these boys would be much the same as the types of relationships I forged with my former music students. Obviously, it was not the same. Being a music teacher, in a position of authority and working with middle class youth did not prepare me for being a volunteer and an equal with an underprivileged and vulnerable population of youth, an all male population. I never thought that I could grow so attached to youth so much younger than me, and to youth who at times, were butting heads with me.

While you always know that it does not matter what social background you come from, people are people and every person has the ability to be a good person. Everybody knows this in theory, but it doesn't stop the stereotypes from coming out and any privileged person would be lying if they said they never let a negative thought of the poor come across their mind. I think that maybe it takes real life experience to really learn this lesson. These boys are amazing. It never ceases to amaze me that even though they have gone through so much, violent families, parents with addictions, street life; they are still so happy with life and determined to move forward. When I think of what these boys have been through, and how little I know of that life; I can't help but think a little stupid for sometimes making such a big deal about things that, in comparison to other things, it not an issue at all. I hope that with this experience, I can learn to be a more thoughtful person and to take life in stride like these boys do.

Most of all however, I hope to never forget. Not only the boys that I met and got to know there, but the vivacious culture of Peru, the language, and the relaxed way that people go about life in Peru, as opposed to the high-strung life that people seem to lead in Canada. Even though every now and then I'll catch myself accidentally saying "no gracias", "permiso" and once "donde" to my parents when I was trying to speak Cantonese; I can feel myself losing the Spanish language fast. I only hope that everything else I learned from my experience does not wear off quite as fast as the language, if it wears off at all.

So, thank you Students Without Borders and WUSC for the chance that you gave me to such a wonderful experience. I hope that more students continue to volunteer abroad and to continue allowing for room to change in a world where it is needed most.

These Boots are made for Walkin'

2009-04-22T21:42:00.002-05:00

And that's just what they'll do. One of these days these boots are going to walk all over you. Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun.

Uh...anyway...enough of that. Post title mainly from the fact that I have done a lot of walking in the last day and some. Yesterday my sister and I went to the Isla del Sol from Copabana. We ended up having the slowest boat on earth, with one broke-ass motor and the other just sputtering away...struggling to push the boat and some 20 or so people forward. Our boat left before everybody else, yet we arrived last at the island. Just our luck hahaha.

Isla del Sol is absolutely beautiful. The lake looks like glass almost, and in the midst of water pollution in Latin America, it's refreshing to see a body of water that isn't brown or have garbage in it. We got off at the North end and made our way to the South end...not because we wanted to, but because we got lost. In the end it was worth it because the landscape through the 2 and some hour trek is breathtaking. I think beaches are beautiful, but it is just so amazing to be on the top of this island, above everything else and see Bolivia on one side, and Peru on the other (but if you ask me which side is which I couldn't tell you hahaha). The trek however was tiring and by the end, I was starving and had to pee so bad...it was time for a day for relaxation. But it wasn't over yet, we had to board the boat again, which ended up leaving later than all the others (yes, even though it was the slowest). We were supposed to arrive back in Copacabana at 5:20, and we would be able to catch our bus at 6:00. So our slow boat made its return journey, and stopped at the Templo del Sol for 15 minutes which was not part of the itinerary. It put me on edge, I was sure that we would miss our bus because nobody ever takes 15 minutes at something.

In the end, we ended up getting back to the island at a quarter to six where we ran to the bus company, grabbed our bags from some random hostal that I managed to convince to store our bags even though we weren't staying there or have ever stayed there. But in the end, it didn't matter. Our bus didn't leave until 6:45 anyway, which I should have anticipated being that it was a Bolivian bus.

Off we went to Peru (my beloved pais). First though...we took the bus to the border. On the Bolivian side everybody got out and had to go through Bolivian immigration. My sister and I were stragglers because we were exchanging money...so we went back to our bus, but nobody was there. Then our bus driver tells us our bus is on the other side. The other side? The other side of what? The other side of the road? The other side of the bus? Oh no...the other side of the border. So off we went, in the middle of the night walking through the Bolivian/Peruvian border, like a pair of illegal migrants. It was strange...I have never walked through a border like that...I felt like I should have been skulking or something, rathering than prancing through. Okay, well I didn't prance but I didn't skulk either.

After that we took another bus to Puno, and switched buses there to Arequipa. Somewhere along the road, we stopped to pick up other passengers and just our luck, we get this family sitting behind us. Yes...an entire family sitting behind us, you know, where there are only 2 seats. The mother had so many bags that she kept making my sister raise her seat so she could fit her bags, meanwhile she stretched out her chair completely. Coulnd't have put the bags under the bus or overtop you know? Meanwhile behind me, there were like...3 people in the same seat and the kid kept kicking my seat and pulling the overhead part, with my hair included. It was super frustrating because the previous night I had gotten about 1 hour of sleep, and then we hiked all day and were exhausted. All we wanted was a good nights rest, which is already hard enough on a bus itself, without annoying people sitting behind us.

Anyway, eventually we arrived in Arequipa at like...2 am in the morning. We phoned around and managed to find a hostal that had room. So...here I am now! In the hostal...taking advantage of the free internet here (bahaha!). Anyway...that about sums up my adventures as of how.

Home next week on Friday...so I expect to see some of you faces soon! If not in Toronto, in class in Waterloo. For those of you, my friends in Calgary, soon enough my loves! Soon enough!

FIRE IN THE DANCEHALL

2009-04-19T16:49:00.003-05:00

So...where did I leave off? Sort of rushed from my last day in the jungle...to give a bit more detail my last day in the jungle we went to the community of San Miguel. This is where I tried chocolate fruit and the seeds that chocolate is made from...it doesn´t really taste like anything but the fruit is good! I also helped make fresh sugar cane juice with this old machine, and then later drank the sugar cane juice with lemon in it. I also ate grapefruit off the tree, I tried to catch them but only succeeded in catching the one and dropping the other two. Whatever...it´s really hard trying to catch falling grapefruit. The community was really intereting to see, they have a lot of volunteers there and part of me wished that I did my internship in a place like that instead...mostly just because it´s just so far removed and really different from what I know in Canada. I mean...Lima is different, but anything I want from Canada I can most likely find it in Lima as well (except for Vietnamese noodles dear noodles I miss you!).

Following the community visit, Eric, our tour guide made my sister and I rings from wild mango seeds. It´s pretty cool how he makes them...takes a lot of time, I don´t think I would have the patience. Hahaha. I kept saying ¨listo¨ while I was sanding...and he would just say back to me...¨that´s not listo¨.Hahaha. Around this time it began to rain really hard...I guess it wouldn´t have been an experience in the rainforest with it actually raining. Our flight was cancelled, and then it wasn´t cancelled...and we ended up boarding the bus maybe 2 minutes before it left for the airport. On the plane we met a nice Israeli guy named Ron. When we landed in La Paz we shared a taxi with Ron and ended up meeting him, and 2 of his friends that he met in Peru for dinner...and then later playing pool and cards in an all Israeli hostal. It wasn´t sort of a weird feeling to be the only Asians amongst all these Israelis but fun nonetheless.

The next day we left for Uyuni and our Salar de Uyuni trip. The overnight bus was hell and on our way to Uyuni this truck drove by our bus and totally collided in the side of it and took off the side, the side mirror and even broke the front window completely! Poor bus drivers had to drive with a broken window the rest of the time. Eventually they caught up to the truck driver and ended up surrounding him and kicking him...drawing all the locals of this tiny community out. It was really bizarre...not exactly the best way to solve anything I don´t think. But I guess things like insurance don´t exist here. We finally managed to make our way to Uyuni and left for our tour in a timely fashion, after being rudely denied use of bathroom at 2 hostals even though we offered to pay (the public baño was closed).

We ended up being on a tour with 2 older German gentleman and a German couple, it´s too bad that we didn´t get a younger tour group, it might have been more fun. But it was still good. We made our way to the train cemetery...which was interesting, but not that interesting. It was the Salt Lake that still marks my 3 days in Salar de Uyuni. It just seems so alien....stretches and stretches of white salt, and little cones of salt. The Isla de Pescado just sits in the middle of the Salt Lake...rocky and rull of cacti in this landscape that is seemingly barren in resources other than salt. My sister and I took some pretty good shots at the Salt Lake. Afterwards we made our way to the hostal...which was, as they said on the itinerary very basic. Although at this hostal it has been one of the warmer showers I have been able to take in Bolivia so far....they aren´t very common here in Bolivia.

Dinner rolled around the corner and everybody was sitting in the dining area, adjacent to the 2 kitchens. There were 3 tour groups in total, making it I believe 18 foreigners in total, 3 tour guide and 3 cooks. Everybody is just enjoying dinner when all the sudden I hear this ¨boom¨ and this guy comes flying out of the second kitchen, fear on his face and I see from the kitchen the orange glow of fire. It was a gas fire, one of the tubes of the propane tank had leaked. Everybody got out of the dining hall fast...in the chaos I lost my sandal, my keys and my flashlight (all were found later). It was pretty scary because there were 2 propane tanks in the kitchen. My sister and I ended up running into somebody´s property, they ended up being very nice and telling us to come behind the brick wall with them because it was safer. It was pretty scary looking over the wall and into the window of the dining hall and just seeing this orange glow. Eventually they got the fire out, one local girl was burned but not too seriously (as people told me at least). Our cook and the older German gentleman escaped through the window in the other kitchen. Oi vay...small noises are still freaking me out now. I am just glad that things didn´t get worse and that nobody was seriously hurt.

The next day we went to 3 lagunas and the National Park Reserve as well as the stone tree. The landscape in this area is just so strange...I feel like I am on alien land all the time. Flamingos in this seemingly desert area...ostriches...llamas...vicunas. So bizarre. The sun in Salar is wicked and the car gets unbearably hot...I spent a lot of the time with my scarf over my head looking like a really cool person. That night we spent the night in some pretty sketch accomodation...dorm style rooms don´t bother me, but I would at least like clean sheets (or seemingly clean). When I peeled back my sandy feeling sheets, I found a dirty old snot rag in my bed. Lovely.

The next day we had an early wake up call at 4;30, went to the geysers and the hot springs. I just dipped my feet in the hot springs, but at one point I wanted to get a better photo so I started walking...then slipped then ended up getting most of my pants wet. This wouldn´t be such a big deal usually, but Salar de Uyuni is bitterly cold in the morning and night. I was literally a popsicle until my pants dried. I think because of the many temperature change, I came down with a fever on our last day in Salar.

Oi! Anyway...have to cut this entry short again. My hour is nearly up! Hasta luego amigos!

Adventuras de viaje

2009-04-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

Hola mis amigos! So...it has been a while since I last wrote. I am currntly in La Paz, freezing my toes off in a internet cafe type thinger. Locutorio? I don´t know...that is what they´re called in Peru but I don´t think they are calld that in Bolivia.

So...the reason why I am freezing specifically my toes off? Well, I am wearing flip flops. Why would I be so stupid to wear flip flops in cold La Paz right? Ha...there is a funny story behind that one (read on and you´ll see). We landed in La Paz on Saturday and spent the day here, organized our trip to Salar de Uyuni and walked around (ie. got lost) a bit. Turned in a bit early since we had an early wake up call and stayed at our hostel...the "Hotel Majestic"...which wasn´t really that majestic, but at least it had hot water showers, which I would later learn are rare in Bolivia.

The next morning we woke up before the sun rose and called our plane company to see if the flight as a-okay. This is necessary becaus in Rurrenabaque, the landing strip isn´t so much as landing strip as it is a field of grass, so when it rains it´s dangerous. We ended up going through a confusing time of approximately 5 or 6 hours trying to figure out our cancelled or possibly not cancelled flight. Eventually we boardd the plane and AWAY we went! La Paz and Rurrenabaque...wow, so different, and obviously I prefer Rurrenabaque. I stepped off the plane wearing a scarf, a sweater, a jacket and my leggings. These layers were peeled off almost immediately after I stepped off the plane. We met our tour guide, Eric, a cute little guy from the jungle community of San Jose. Speaks like...6 languages or so, amazing. The bus ride to Rurre took about 45 minutes and was interesting to see the scenery...cows crossing, goats, people riding down the dirt road on a motorcyle without a helmet...it sort of reminded me of footage I have seen of rural Africa.

We arrived to Rurre and off we went to the San Miguel del Bala Ecolodge. First we walked to the office in Rurre and then took a beautiful boat ride to the ecolodge. Words cannot describe the scenery...I had a big stupid grin on my face the entire time on the boat. It`s just this lush greenery everywhere, and the boats are cute and everybody is so friendly. We arrived at the Ecolodge, dropped off our backpacks and left for the canyon. Had to take a bit of a hike at first, but it was amazing. The canyon it not as deep as the canyon I went to in Huaraz, but this experienc was better. You are right inside the canyon, thigh deep in water at times clambering over rocks. In the end, I took off my flip flops because it was easier to manage your balance. It´s so dark and mysterious inside the canyon, bats flying everywher and at one point we saw a poisonous spider on the wall of the canyon. I tried to give it as wide a berth as possile as I walked by...sort of hard in a narrow canyon. But I managed to get by alive hahaha.

Afterwards, we went back to the lodge and took a steep uphill hike up 80 billion stairs to get to our cabin...I hate these stairs. Over the course of my stay in the jungle...I had to climb these damn things so many times I am pretty sure that I really do have buns of steel now. I should make an exercise video when I get back to Canada. Anyway, dropped off our stuff and left for dinner which was delicious. We headed back to bed pretty early as again, we had an early wake up call. When we returned to our cabin, our lights stopped working, so we had to take our lukewarm shower with flashlights aimed as best as possible for being able to see. Hahaha. It´s just like when there is a power outage only a bit more scary because you don´t know what kind of insects are making their way into your living arrangements and you can´t see anything. The next morning, we headed for our breakfast, also delicious and met a pair of French girls who have been traveling for 4 or so months. I immediately thought of Cecile and then had to be like...oh yeah, my old roommate is from France, from Nancy...as if they really care. Hahaha. It was an interesting conversation as they didn´t speak too good of English, my French is ass, so we communicated mostly in Spanish / English and a little bit of French here and there. Hahaha.

After breakfast we prepared for our 3 hour hike in the jungle. It was amazing, but also thoroughly exhausting. I will no longer ever think of the Lake Louise tea house hike in Alberta as hard anymore. You sweat like a pig like the jungle, and the mosquitos eat you alive...regardless of whether or not you´re wearing repellent. I think I have a good set of qat last 20 bites now...in various places on my body including my face. It was really difficult at times becaus the slope is to steep, so it´s difficult to climb and to get down...and other parts are really marshy. We managed to see a frog, 2 types of monkeys, some birds and a tarantula! Aaah! Our guide was poking the tarantula nest with a stick...I really don´t think that a tarantula is the type of organism that you should be aggravating with a stick. Hahaha. I managed the entire 3 hour trek doing quite well, didn´t fall once and my shoes didn´t get too wet. As we were boarding the boat, half of my body was in the boat and the other half still on land...you can guess what happened next...my other half slipped into the river and under the boat. Not only was my left half now wet, I also have this huge bruise from the boat! So this is now why I am wearing flip flops because my shoes are still soaking wet. Afterwards we headed to the camp grounds and saw the 2 French girls, as well as 2 Americans and a British girl (the later 3 were quite unfriendly). Eating was a pretty unpleasant experienc as the swarms of insects don´t give you a break, I am sure that I ate at least 5 flies during that lunch...oh well, extra protein. At least it´s more excusable...I am in the jungle. Not like that time I found a ladybug in my food on Air Canada flight...thanks Air Canada.

Afterwards we took another hike to a small body of water with a waterfall. The hike sucked because I changed into my flip flops...at one point we went down such a steep and slippery hill that ther was this rope that had been put there to help you down. Thanks rope...didn´t do much good though hahaha! The waterfall was great and much needed after all that hiking in the hot jungle. I love the way the sand/mud feels in the jungle...it´s so fine and wet that you just sort of...sink into it like a pillow. I found my "sand haven" in the waterfall area and just sort of stayed there. Hahaha. There were little shrimp swimming around, I tried to catch a few but failed and then freaked out when one of them touched my hands. Hahaha. I am not cut out for shrimping...so long dreams of becoming Bubba Gump.

Anyway...nxt day went to the community and had some fresh fruit and made fresh sugar cane juice. Ack...my time is up on this internet, sorry for having to cut this short. Long story short, community was cool, rain in the jungle occured, almost missed our flight. And now we´re back in dreary La Paz.

Leaving for Salar de Uyuni tonight...nos hablamos mas rato mis amigos!

Besos,
Renee

Mi ultima semana

2009-04-03T21:27:00.002-05:00

Next week will be my last week in Lima and working at the Casa Hogares Los Delfines. What can I say? It has been a really great learning experience. While I can't say that I understand poverty now, because I never really will understand it until I have lived it, and unfortunately, the hypocrite in me is unwilling to give up my comfortable lifestyle to live in poverty.

Working with these children has given me a whole new level of patience. While I have worked with kids in many different positions, this set of kids are very different. You can really tell that many of them have behavioral and social problems, yet being untrained in psychology I am not able to recognize them.

Of course I often get very impatient and frustrated with the kids, and sometimes in my head I am silently cursing them. But then, something happens when I am doing something like just playing cards with them, or when I see them first thing in the morning and last thing during the afternoon and they give me a kiss good morning and good bye, or when I'm looking through photos of them. It sounds so corny, but my heart just swells and a rush of emotions and memories come flooding back to me. You would think that 3 months isn't enough time to get attached, but it is more than enough. While I am happy to be finished work, start traveling Bolivia and return to Canada, I am also feeling melancholy because even though the work can be quite frustrating, in part of not having much to do, I have grown to care so much for every one of those kids and it's difficult for me because I know that the chances are that I'll never see them again. I don't see myself returning to Peru anytime soon, in part because I have to graduate and in the future, if I do more international volunteering (which I probably will), I want to experience more and see more, so I probably will not go back to volunteer in Peru.

This country is beautiful and so diverse, just like every one of the boys that I work with. It is hard for me to stay mad at any of the boys when one minute they might be bothering me on purpose to get a reaction, and the next minute they are giving me a picture that they drew for me. It breaks my heart the histories and the conditions that these boys live in. Of course I don't mean the conditions of the casa hogares, because the conditions, while not up to North American standards (though I can't be too sure of this, I don't know how group homes in Canada are) are fine, but I mean the conditions in that many of unable to see their family, or no longer have family, etc. This position has certainly solidified my desire to work in social planning in the future, I want to be able to make a change in somebody's life for the better. While urban design is very interesting to me, there are inherent social issues embedded in the world of private and corporate urban design that I cannot come to terms with. Perhaps in the future I will find a socially conscious urban design company to work for, perhaps not. Either way, I am sure that I will know what decision to make when the time comes.

Perhaps this internship hasn't been the best, nor has it been the worst, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Yes of course, many times at work I get bored because the boys are at school, or are otherwise occupied with chores or homework and there isn't much for the volunteer to do. But at the same time, getting to know these boys, their stories and becoming their friend is an experience that is a reward itself. Though it's hard to see that sometimes, when you take a step back and really take a look, it becomes clear. Perhaps I haven't been able to make a big impact on these boys alone, with my short time here, but they have made a very big impact on me. And I hope to take these effects with me back home, and forever keep them in my mind when I am out in the work (or volunteer) force in the future. Every little thing I do to help make the world a better place (I know, I sound so corny and lame right now), I will think of these boys because it is people like them that I am doing things for.

Apart from that, I am also very glad to be (almost) finished the internship and (almost) returning to Canada. I miss my friends dearly, my family...well, my sister arrives in Lima tonight and living in Ontario I don' really get to see my parents that often anyway. I miss cooking my own food and trying out new recipes, or doing things like baking cookies at 1am in the morning. I miss my bike and riding it everywhere, even if it gives me swass (sweaty ass) and god awful calluses on my hands, I just love biking everywhere. Of course I also miss my collection of clothing, shoes, bags, accessories etc, having come here with just a backpack (albeit a large one)...yes I realize how girly and also spoiled I sound. I also miss school...oddly enough, the late hours in the studio making models until my fingers hurt and I want to stab myself with the narrow pointy end of my set square, or otherwise furiously pounding out papers in the wee hours of the morning, and printing and handing them in juuustt before they are due. I miss the weather even, oddly enough - the weather here in Lima is always beautiful, but there is something really nice about a chilly autumn day and bundling up in scarves, mitts and carrying a cup of hot coffee. Speaking of hot coffee, I also miss my god awful Tim Hortons large-double-double "coffee". I don't care if it doesn't really qualify for real coffee, I love it hahaha!

I also miss my house in Waterloo...though I haven't lived there for very long (barely 4 months) I feel so at home there. I even miss Waterloo, which is so strange for me to say now considering how much I hated the city when I first moved there. Of course I miss Toronto, it's a big city as well, like Lima, but it's different in a way that I can't say if I prefer it more or not, I like both cities.

In all, there are lots of things I miss about Canada. But I am sure that when I get back to Canada, I will be able to think of a plethora of things that I miss about Lima and Peru in general. That being said, it's 10:08 and I am extremely sleepy, I think I will sneak in a quick nap before heading out to the airport to get my sister.

Talk to you later dear readers!

Saludos,
Renee

RightWithTheDownCrowd

2009-03-30T19:57:00.004-05:00

Post title from the song "RightWithTheDownCrowd" by The Pica Beats. Good band, discovered thanks to my podcast to Sub Pop Records. I also recently rediscovered Sandro Perri of Toronto. I'm just throwing it out there, Canada's got some good music, though the Pica Beats are from Seattle. Another good find that I got into this summer is I am Robot and Proud (also from Toronto). Anyway, I digress, the point of this post is not so that people like Jeremy (sorry J-Ho had to pick on you) can find fuel to continue calling me a pretentious indie bastard but to continue my adventures about Peru (though I am sure once I return to Canada I will continue this blog, under a different title).

So where did I leave off? Righto...Machu Picchu. From Machu Picchu I went to, respectively:

Pisco

Paracas - Isla de Ballestas and the National Parque Reserve

Nazca

Huaraz

Trujillo

The bus ride to Pisco was okay, other than the fact that it was cramped and the movies sucked. We arrived in Pisco around 9 and made our way to our hostel. Now if you know about Pisco, there was quite a major earthquake that occurred in 2007, and you can tell. I feel very sad for the town, at its height, I am sure it was beautiful. The aftermath of the earthquake still lays thick in the air of this sleepy little town. It's not just that most of the town still lies in shamble, with rubble and broken buildings on every corner, but you can feel it from the people. I didn't know about the earthquake before I went (because I am an ignoramus like that) but I couldn't help but feel that something was up. I feel for the lives lost and I hope that everything works out for Pisco.

Digressing from that, Kevin and I arrived at our hostal which was recommended from the Lonely Planet, but I would personally like to remove that recommendation. Sleeping in that bed felt like sleepy in a cushy bowl...your middle sunken in, and your head and feet raised. It made my back in a happy state the next morning (note the sarcasm). The next morning we made our way to the Ballestas Islands and the Paracas National Park Reserve, which was pretty amazing. I was able to see penguins, sealions, boobies (that's what they're called), storks and some other birds that I don't remember at the island, and then told that the first people to work there were Chinese people and that apparently a lot of us committed suicide because we couldn't deal with the smell or the work (damn son). After the island we took some lunch and made our way to the Park Reserve. The only way I can really describe the park reserve is just...stretches and stretches of quiet and almost eerie mounds and flats of sand. The thing I love about Peru is just how different the landscape is, in a country that is maybe as large as 2 Canadian provinces. Here is a country where you have the coast, the desert, the mountains and the jungle - and every different landscape has such a different culture and feeling as well (I personally am more of a fan of the coastal lifestyle, it's much more laid back than the sierra). We saw some beautiful coastal scenes and a museum (which was boring) and basically enjoyed driving through the desert scenery. (my photos of the island have not been uploaded yet. Picasa is super slow!!)

The next day we went to Nazca, boarded a Cessna (yes the small planes that crash often) to see the Nazca lines. Even though the plane ride was expensive, it plane ride itself is an experience (for some...a bad experience as we witnessed somebody's breakfast on the pavement on our way to the plane). I almost lost my own breakfast myself the first time the pilot turned the plane to the side...I guess no amount of riding rides at the amusement park will prepare you for that! The lines were cool to see, but in a way I was more interested in the desert scenery once again. It was pretty see everything from a bird's eye point of view.

From Nazca

Kevin in the Cessna

From Nazca

Me in the Cessna...though you can't really tell

From Nazca

Hee hee, cute astronaut Nazca Line

From Nazca

The bus ride back from Nazca was pretty shit. We took a taxi back to Pisco and from there a taxi ride to the bus station for Ica. I really use the word bus station loosely...it was more like a canopy tent, like this

kind of in the middle of nowhere at the side of a highway. Once we boarded the bus we had to change buses at Ica back to Pisco...both bus rides were unbearably hot, even with the window open and the bus going at 500 billion mph. Not to mention there was no bathroom on the bus, but luckily neither of us had a sudden attack of diarrhea or something.

The following week went by like it usually does without a problem and by the next weekend, we were boarding an overnight bus to Huaraz, which is in the sierra. Once again, I saw my life flash before my eyes about a billion times as the double decker bus dashed through the narrow, and unpaved roads, turning way too sharply and not braking quite as often as it should have. That is bus rides for you in Peru as it is. Huaraz is an interesting town, aesthetically it is not as nice as other places in the sierra, like Cusco or Ollantaytambo, but I found the people much nicer, but the dogs a lot more terrifying (as in they will chase you). We made our way to Chavin as well as a lagoon in the mountains. The lagoon was pretty disappointing, but I guess growing up in Alberta with access to the Rocky Mountains, I have seen some pretty spectacular mountain scenery. Chavin was disappointing until we managed to get under the ruins, in the catacombs (is that what you call them)? It was eerie and the superstitious part of me had me kept thinking that the place was haunted and that something was going to pop out and scare the crap out of me, but luckily...none of that did happen. The scariest part of the whole Chavin trip was more the bus driver, who would try to miss every pothole in the road, but in the process of doing swerve and careen a little too close to comfort to the edge of the cliff. I was pretty angry actually that the bus driver was driving with such recklessness, considering that in his hands were the lives of about 10 other people, even when it started raining on our way back to Huaraz, he kept driving like this. But, we managed to make it alive.

The next day we took a private taxi to Canon del Pato, where I proceeded to walk on a narrow path, and at some points clambering over rocks in my flip flops...overlooking a drop of at least 200 meters. But it was a cool experience, the canyon is pretty narrow in terms of a canyon and completely unregulated. It's not like the Grand Canyon in the states where there are so many other tourists, and its all roped off...here you are literally walking through the tunnels of the canyon (where I was told there were many bats) and then to the edge overlooking the cliff, and into the river that rushes down below. The formation of the rock almost looks like it's something out of a movie set, but the sounds of the water and the feel of the sandy floor on your feet tell you otherwise. My heart was pounding in my chest the entire time we were in the canyon as I worried that my clumsiness would lead me to certain death. Afterwards we visited the remains of the town of Yungay. Like Pisco, it was an eerie feeling. Yungay, in the 70s, was buried under a landslide after an earthquake occurred and nearly the entire town was killed. The government has declared that nothing be excavated and that the entire site be declared a national cemetery. I couldn't help but feel a little tug at my heart when I was standing there, over what used to be a thriving town. I guess it's very different hearing about a tragedy on TV and then being at the place where it had happened. Seems to touch you on a more personal level, even though I know that I have not experienced tragedy like that (and I hope not to ever also).

Remains of a bus that was buried under the landslide

After Yungay we made our way back to Huaraz. The one thing I never get used to in Peru in smaller cities, on Sundays almost everything closes early and you would be hard pressed to find any place to find dinner. After some aimless wandering we happened upon a random restaurant with a "real French chef" (as was their advertisement on the door haha). I had some delicious gnocchi and Inka Cola (which I will really miss when I leave! I never drink pop, but I have fallen in love with Inka Cola). When we returned to the hostal to pick up our bag, we sat and played cards for a bit to kill time since everything in the town was closed...then it started to rain. Hard. When the time came to make our way to the bus station, we couldn't get through to call a cab, and then couldn't find one on the streets so we walked our way to the bus station, arriving wet and cold. So...we had to sit a 8 or 9 hour so bus ride, smelling like wet dog since also neither of us had been able to take a proper shower since a) when I tried to take one, the water turned freezing cold and b) the next morning we woke up late and didn't have time to shower). By the time we arrived in Lima I am sure the combination of both of our body odour was enough to make somebody gag.

The same Tuesday, Kevin left at the ungodly hour of 4am in the morning. I continued my week at work, prepared my final presentation for Students Without Borders and boarded a bus to Trujillo Friday afternoon. I spent 9 hours on the bus with waves of stomach pain, which I attribute to the sketchy "arroz con pollo" or possibly the papa rellena that the bus company fed to us. I would spend the rest of the weekend with cramps and going to the bathroom quite often, enough to make it start to "hurt to wipe" (as I am sure everybody wants to know that hahaha). Trujillo is a nice city, and has the same laidback coastal feel as Lima, but not quite as much as the chaos that is present in Lima. Simon and I did our final presentations, which I feel like I bombed but everybody else said I did okay. I literally read right off the paper I had prepared, because I just don't trust myself to speak Spanish that well off the top of my head.

Afterwards we went to Huanchaco and enjoyed the beach scenery for a bit. I am still pretty underwhelmed with beaches in Peru. I mean, it was still nice but nothing like stretches of white sand, clear blue skies and warm clean water. I enjoyed some ceviche, which was probably a bad idea as its raw fish when i have stomach problems already. Simon's friend, Leon came the same Saturday night. Poor guy was on the bus for about 30 hours because of a landslide up north...so far I have been lucky and haven't really encountered things like this, lets hope that my luck keeps with me. The Sunday we made our way to Chan-Chan, but by then the three of us were just so tired, me still sick, that we just...couldn't really appreciate it. I mean, the ruins were still very neat and it was very cool to be standing in a site that existed centuries ago...but I guess when you're tired it's hard to pay attention.

The bus ride back to Lima was shite as I can't fall asleep on overnight buses, and it was coupled by the fact that I was still getting stomach cramps every half hour. I was pretty worried that I would have an attack at some point during the night and have to use the toilet on the bus which is to be used "solamente por urinar". Screw that, if my stomach is killing me it's killing me. I am not going to ask the bus-driver to make a coordinated bus stop when I have to go now!

Oi vay. Anyway...I have the hugest headache as I write this. I think I will go make a cup of tea and down a couple of midols...since those are the only painkillers I have right now. But they work for headaches just as well as for uterus aches! Entonces, me voy mis amigos! Te hablo el siguente vece!

Buenos noches,
Renee

Peruuuuusssssiiinnn 'round Peru

2009-03-26T18:14:00.005-05:00

I have finally lived up to my blog name and have (slightly) perused this fine country called Peru. Sorry for my being MIA, when Kevin came I wasn't home at night a lot and on the weekends I was off...well, perusin' (okay okay, I'll stop shamelessly using that word because it's the only pun I can think of with the word 'peru').

(as an aside this guy, Dan Hardin plays some crazy good guitar and has such a sexy voice: http://www.youtube.com/user/danielhassixstrings) Okay...continuing on...

My adventures begin in Cusco, which is a much more expensive city than I had anticipated. There was some (more like a lot) of stress with money because I hadn't brought enough, but in the end everything worked out okay. I mean of course I wasn't able to buy a pet llama like I wanted to, but I guess that it would be sort of hard to explain that one at Canadian customs anyway. Also, nobody tells you that Cusco is actually really freakin' cold and you wouldn't expect it either, or at least I didn't anticipate it. After 2 months of warm, coastal Limean weather I was under the impression that all of Peru enjoyed this constant warm weather. Not quite the case, so for 5 days I freezed my ass off wearing jeans and several t-shirts, and once, when I went out at night, I nicked a pair of Kevin's socks and wore them like I had a pair of sock-hands. I might have looked dumb with a pair of Nike socks on my arms, but I was warm and really, who is looking that closely at my hands anyway? For all anybody knows, I am wearing a pair of stylish, gothic, elbow-length gloves...because you know, people wear gloves like that all the time...at least that is what I kept telling myself.

Cusco is a beautiful city, though where our hostal was was a bit "out of the way" (as in 15 minutes instead of 5 minutes) away from the Plaza de Armas, but the atmosphere changes quite dramatically from the plaza outwards. The memory that stands out for me with Cusco is the Cathedral de Santo Domingo...which is actually 3 cathedrals attached together. Now, I am not exactly who you might call a religious person - but I was in utter awe of this cathedral. I have never seen something with so much detail and so beautiful. The other sites I saw were interesting as well, but obviously not interesting enough for me to remember without looking at the photos.

From Cusco

Cathedral of Cusco

From Cusco

I do however remember Saqsaywaman...but mostly because of the treacherous uphill climb we took to get to it. I like to say that it was the altitude of the city that made me all out of breath and tired, and not because of the fact that I have not stepped into pair of running shoes since early November and have since then taken up the nasty habit of consuming a bar of chocolate everyday (I just finished my bar in fact. Chocolate with nougat filling...hey, I'm alone and lonely in Lima and chocolate is my companion okay?!). We'll see how my weight is when I get back to Canada, I am hoping that getting back into the habit of biking everywhere will help shed the pounds I have surely put on here. Anyway, I digress. Saqsaywaman is a set of Incan ruins that at the time I visited them, I thought was great. Later travels would make this set of ruins pale in comparison.

From Cusco

Aaaaaw. Baby llama!

From Cusco

Saqsaywaman! Wooo!

From Cusco

More Saqsawwaman

After Saqsaywaman, Kevin and walked up a hill on a gravel road and waited and waited for a bus to take us to Pisac. A bus, because not only am I an adventurer (or at least I like to think so) but also because of the money issue. Hahaha. So I have heard about bus rides in the sierra (the mountains) before, but I had never previously experienced them myself. Well, the bus ride to and from Pisac were my first, and terrifying. Roads on the mountains are narrow, and many times unpaved and the buses drive as fast as they do when they are driving on the highway. I was sure I was going to meet certain death about a billion times on that bus ride alone (later, I would take many more bus and care rides in the mountains). Pisac is on the Sacred Valley of Urubamba and is famous for its Incan ruins (why yes, I did just rip that right out of the Wikipedia article. Whatever). Words can't really describe Pisac...it's just such a beautiful site to be. The best thing about Pisac is that most people who travel Cusco can't be bothered to make their way here because a) a taxi ride from Cusco to Pisac can be expensive and b) most tourists are too nervous to take the bus (this I understand...Peruvian buses can be quite intimidating if you don't know what you are doing). So, if you do manage to make it to Pisac, it's likely you'll be the only one there...with maybe a handful of other tourists. You cannot beat the views, and while the ruins aren't as well maintained as Machu Pichu, nor are the views as good - it is still beautiful and worth a visit.

From Pisac

Terracing in Pisac

From Pisac

Getting back to Cusco from Pisac took a lot longer than expected so Kevin and I ended up getting back much later than anticipated, successfully missing the last bus to Urubamba. So, instead, we walked our way to where the colectivos (shared taxies) are located, apparently in the sketchier part of Cusco but I guess working in La Victoria has made me more desensitized to rougher neighbourhoods so I didn't really think too much of it. We ended up finding a decent(ish) price to Ollantaytambo, where our hostal for that night was located. If I thought that the bus ride in the mountains during the day was scary, it was nothing compared to the taxi (which moves much faster than a bus) ride through the mountains in the night. Exhausted from our day full of uphill climbing - we collapsed into bed at Ollantaytambo in our cute Bed + Breakfast style hostal. The next day was much more refreshing and we managed to make our way to Morai, a series of Incan-time terraced circles used for agricultural reasons, and Salineras, the Incan Salt Pans. Morai was once again, a tiring and perhaps rewarding experience. When I think of it now, it was a rewarding experience but at the time I wanted to to just grow wings and fly my way out of the bottom of the circle. Again, I blame my exhaustion on the altitude change. Salineras was a neat site, but I am sure that the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia will be much more interesting (when I go in April). We also went to Salineras during the low salt-production season, so instead of the pans being completely white it was mostly brown.

Since my photos for Morai and Salineras have not uploaded onto Picasa yet...too bad for you!

Finally, on the last leg of this trip we made our way to...bum bum...Machu Picchu! What can I say about Machu Picchu? Other than the fact that they try to milk you for all of your money by making you pay for the train, the entrance fee and then the bus there (of course if you take the non-lazy, walking route it's much cheaper). But it was worth it...the sites are just amazing. Even with the buzz of so many tourists from all over the world, you can't help but just be in wonder on top of this mountain in the midst of Incan ruins. Of course, sometimes it can be frightening standing on the edge of a ruin and looking down at the mile drop. The thing I loved about Machu Picchu was just walking around the ruins, taking in the gorgeous views and then just...happening upon a llama. The llama, in especially in the sierra, is quite ubiquitous and I must say it's much nicer seeing a llama in Peru than the ones I see in Waterloo Park on my way to school. It just doesn't seem right to see llamas walking around in snow behind a gate in...well, Waterloo Canada.

From Machu Picchu

Man got in my shot...grrrr!

From Machu Picchu

These little guys were quite common

From Machu Picchu

Llama feeding...you know...whatever

From Machu Picchu

Anyway...this is turning out to be an extremely long post, which I know it's also way overdue and that I still need to share my adventures in Pisco, Nazca and Huaraz and now to come, Trujillo. But I also need to finish my presentation as I leave for Trujillo tomorrow and present on Saturday.

I shall talk to you soon my dearies! Hasta pronto!

Ladybird, ladybug

2009-03-24T19:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note, I will wrote more again (probably tonight) on actual things related to my time in Lima. This post doesn't have much importance to the average person, but has importance to me. My favourite yoga poses (the only person who will probably appreciate this post is my sister)! Commencing...now (I am a dork I know):

Savanasana - Corpse pose (at the top of my list. Hahaha)

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana - Pigeon. Though I really love any kind of hip-opener pose.

Ardha Chandrasana - Half moon pose

Crescent moon pose

Padangusthasana - Big Toe pose

Virabhadrasana II - Warrior II pose

Vrksasana - Tree pose

Trikonasana - Triangle pose

Bridge pose

Headstand

Fish pose

Mountain pose

Poses I am trying to learn how to do:

Feathered peacock pose (without a wall)

Scorpion pose

Handstand (without a wall)

Peacock pose

Firefly pose

Side-crow on the left side (for some reason I can only do it on the right side)

Anyway...that being said - a big and public congratulations to my sister for her courageous big step in her life to take up her passion and become a yoga teacher. I look forward to when you finish your teacher training and when I can take one of your classes! =) See you in a week and some! =)

Que es Canada?

2009-03-01T01:14:00.001-05:00

In case I have any Peruvian readers, though I am sure that I don't seeing as it has been extraordinarily difficult for me to meet and make Peruvian friends (but I digress), this entry is to shed a bit of light on what I think provides a representation of Canada (it is probably lacking a lot, but bear with me this is just my perception at 1:15 am in the morning on an empty stomach, eating overpriced Ritter Sport chocolate because it was the cheapest option). Whew...that was one long, run on sentence...whatever, I'm no English major, as demonstrated by the fact that the University still keeps sending me emails that I have not fulfilled my English proficiency exam. Whatever...Waterloo sucks that way.

So...cosas que yo creo es Canadiense (things that I think are Canadian)

Maple syrup. And not the crappy "Aunt Jemima" butter flavour (what is butter flavour maple syrup anyway?!) crap but the real, from Quebec tree tapped maple syrup. Something like this but maybe not as primitive and hopefully with bucket that doesn't look so grimy:

Aboriginal people. One of Canada's most controversial groups of people. I won't get into what I think myself in terms of government policy, but I do think that the different Aboriginal cultures are beautiful (from the little that I do know of it) and that it's too bad that there isn't more of a light shone on Aboriginal culture.

Bears. And bear attacks. To Canadians signs that say things like "Bear Proof your campsite" or items like "bear spray" are run of the mill and common, to other people...it brings upon thoughts of "WTF mate?!". I don't think I have ever gone through a summer that I remember where I didn't read a story about somebody being attacked by a bear in the mountains.

Obviously the bears that are responsible for bear attacks are usually or a larger variety than the one displayed above. But this pair was just so cute I couldn't resist hahaha.

The weirdest weather on Earth. At first, I thought it was just Calgary that had weird weather where it will be a nice warm, sunny day and then in the middle of the afternoon there will be a snowstorm, and then return to nice warm sunny day. But after my summer in Toronto much more east of Calgary, I am convinced that it's just a symptom of much of Canada. Yes...it gets really friggin' cold in Canada...but then there are other places where in the summer, you can spend the entire day morning to night, in shorts and a tank top. Then when it rains, it's unbearably hot and stuffy and feels like you're taking a hot shower with all of your clothes on.

Cottages for Ontario

Mountains for British Columbia and Alberta

Poutine. One of the greatest culinary inventions on earth. Hahaha...I'm sure any actual food conniesuer (I'm too lazy to check the spelling of that word) is shaking their head right now.

Air Canada...the crappiest airline on Earth where most of the stewards look like old bags.

Smarties.

Pizza pops. Apparently they're only sold in Canada. Hahaha.

The longest street in the world. (Yonge Street)

Tundra.

The Great Lakes.

Moose...and deer I guess.

Agatha Christie...even though I really dislike her novels.

Being a bilingual country where a large chunk of the population is bilingual...but not necessarily in French and English.

Anyway....I is super tired and that's all I can think of right now. Let me know if you think anything should be added!

Saludos,
Renee

Narcolepsy Continued!

2009-02-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

Aaah. So it is, my little problem that I call "self-diagnosed mild narcolepsy" continues. On Tuesday, the boys were taken on a field trip to a private club a little south of Lima for the pool and soccer pitch...of course, this meant that the volunteers tagged along as well.

Everything welt well, boys and I played around in the pool, etc. There were a group of annoying kids that I didn't know who started bothering me and asking me questions like "how do you say this in Chinese" and then started making stupid remarks about love and them being my boyfriend etc. The nice thing was that Noel, this sweet little 11 year old boy who is new to the house took on the role of "protective older brother" and was telling the strange boys off, to leave me alone and leading me away from them. The other glitch was when I was told to fix my swimsuit top to be more modest by my superior...nice situation there. Made me want to crawl under a rock and rot and die. As it is, my swimsuit is halter style and the ties at the neck got loose but I hadn't noticed...but now I'm sure I just look like some hoochie from Canada who doesn't have a sense of appropriateness. Humiliating, but that's okay - just got to keep on truckin'!

Anyway, on the way home I boarded my normal #32 bus south of Lima, I have never boarded this far away before so first of all it took a while to get into Lima proper in the first place. Then I got struck by a wave of tiredness, and the next thing I know I was nodding off and on. I distinctly remember at one point the girl next to me pushing me, I woke up and I guess I was leaning pretty heavily on her in my sleepy state. Oops. Then the next thing I knew again, I was in Magdalena. I still have no idea where this district is in relation to the district that I live in. I looked at my watch, and realized that I had been on the bus for almost 2 hours. In the end, I took a nice little trip past the stop I get off after work, and had to get off at the stop I usually get on in the morning...because I am smart and efficient like that. Oi vay.

Other places I have fallen asleep in Lima are at work during English classes, at work at the lunch table, on the number 19 bus, in the sun and waking up red as a lobster because I got burned, and in my yoga classes. Still hasn't beat the oddness of the places I have fallen asleep in Canada, but it's still only February. Hahaha.

Anyway, I'll leave this blog with a few photos of the Casa Los Delfines where I work!

From La Victoria

This is Luis! To the left of Luis' head is my white handprint in which I drew a very bad hand turkey on it in pencil. I am in dire need of hand-turkey practice.

From La Victoria

Elvis. Such a cute little kid. He loves Enrique Iglesias and for his design project, he made a love story made of photos starting from "Boy meets girl" to "Married with family".

From La Victoria

Yoger. Everybody calls him my brother because he has Chinese like eyes????

From La Victoria

Richard who works in the Panederia. He brings me pastries when I hang outside in the garden smelling the delicious scents and pining for food. Hahaha.

From La Victoria

Juan-Carlos fighting? I guess.....

And...that's it! Not many photos because the day I took this most of the boys were at work but more to come soon I promise!

Besos,
Renee

Hot tamales!

2009-02-25T00:16:00.000-05:00

Well, actually lukewarm tamales (I didn't heat it for very long in the microwave). I had my first tamale ever today.

I have to say I was...a little underwhelmed. After what I read about tamales, I built it up in my head that they would taste delicious! I opted for a "pollo tamale" (chicken) but what I got was more of just...plain tamale. There wasn't much evidence of any stuffing that I heated up my additional chicken piece for dinner that I hadn't intended to eat to make the tamale more palatable.

I don't know, maybe I'm just not a fan of the taste. I mean it's not a bad taste, the corn dough, it's just...a bland taste. Maybe I just expect my food to have too much flavour, who knows.

So far, for Peruvian food and beverages I have sampled:

ceviche

rocoto relleno

papa rellena

picarones

chaufa (chifa food - chaufa derived from the Cantonese word for "fried rice" which is exactly what it is, fried rice)

alfajores

chicha morada

pisco sour

Peruvian milk...which I do not enjoy at all

pollo con arroz

butifarra

tamale

causa rellena...this is okay, I'm not a huge fan of it though

Inka Kola

Guarana

Although it has been interesting trying the new foods here, I can't say that I'm not going to be happy for my return to Canada when I can resume my normal eating habits. As it is, the food here is much heavier than I am used to, and contains a lot more meat than I am used to consuming. I am not used to eating meat everyday for lunch and dinner! My typical diet in Ontario consists of yogurt, fruit, bread, muesli, soup (not from a can or an envelope either) and coffee. As it is, the food here has had quite an effect on my digestive system and on my body...nothing that I am too thrilled about.

So, while I do love Lima and I do love Peru...I can say that I can do without the food. Or at least, not on a daily basis. Hahaha. I guess it's just what we're used to, I can adapt pretty easily but when it comes to my body and feeling good about myself...it's hard for me to adapt there.

Anyway...bedtime for this here gal! Buenos noches amigos!

Besos,
Renee

Un historia y entrevisto conmigo

2009-02-23T00:03:00.000-05:00

So I thought I would let the cat out of the bag and share to the world that there is likely going to be a news story about Students Without Borders, and my work with CEDRO. This isn't really new news...I have known about it for a month or so, but like always - I have this weird thing where I harbour information that other people might find interesting to myself and don't tell them until the last minute, or until it's a done deal.

For example, going to Waterloo was a decision I made long before I actually applied, but I didn't really tell many people until I had actually applied, or going to Lima, I didn't tell a lot of people until I had actually applied or even gotten the position. I don't know...I'm weird like that I guess.

Anyway, there is a reporter with CanWest from the Okanogan, her name is April Lawrence. She was granted a fellowship for a project on Canadian development projects and it took her to Honduras and Peru, and, as luck would have it, I am the only Students Without Borders volunteer based out of Lima at this time.

Last Friday April came to the boy's group home and I did a short interview with her (wherein I look god awful. I kid you not, I look god awful...but that's okay because everybody knows I don't look like that in real life right? Right?!?!). There was also an interview with Melody, the house psychologist and 3 of the boys who live in the home. There is some interesting footage of me doing a really awkward dance with everybody laughing at me...oi vay. Hahaha.

She also did another interesting story on microcredit. Off the top of my head I cannot remember the major non-profit microcredit organizations, but as soon as I email April again and ask I will pass along the information!

So, I am not really sure when that story will be put together, let alone aired. But just so you, my dear readers know, that there might be a chance I will be on TV! Anyway...el esta tiempo para mi voy a dormir! Entonces, buenos noches mi quierido lectores!

Besos,
Renee

List continued - Cosas de Lima

2009-02-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

Things I will miss:

The buses. In all of their chaotic glory - they make public transportation fun! I love the music that they play in the buses, and I love how personalized each bus is! Little hanging stuffed dolls on the windows, tinsel, entire framed photos of Jesus (sometimes with lights that light up when the driver brakes). And of course the cobradors (who control the door and take fare) who speak like auctioneers and who hang halfway out the doors while the bus is driving and who jump out running while the bus is moving, and run back on while the bus drives away from them.

Things I will not miss:

How slow people walk here! My god! I know that the pace of life here is slower but I can't get used to the pace of walking here. On top of that I have also developed the Toronto speed walking habit so I get all the more frustrated with pedestrians here.

In other news, I was given the chance to read the histories in the boys files today. I am really glad to have been given the chance to read them. It was heartbreaking and I am glad that I didn't get the opportunity to read them until now because I have gotten to know the boys so well and I am afraid that had I known their histories beforehand, maybe I would have let it affect my judgment of them.

I couldn't help but get a little emotional with a lot of the histories and now, I am more than ever convinced that social planning is what I want to do. When I look at the boys though, or think about them - it's still so hard for me to think about all that they have been through. Sometimes I think children as so resilient, they can go through so much and not let it affect them. Well, at least it doesn't appear to affect them outwardly, though of course it must affect them, to what degree though I do not know.

The level of poverty here is extreme. It's still really hard for me to relate to the kids though, I have never lived such poverty or have gone through such things and when I think about the lives they have led, I cannot help but think how amazing these little people are. Then, I get really saddened when I think about how many other children and youth are out there that need help. Not a day goes by where I do not see children selling little candies (carmelos they are called here), bottled beverages, ice cream, juggling or playing music and singing. They do this on the buses, on the streets, and most shocking to me - in between cars in heavy traffic. I am always worried about the lives of the children because of the way that people drive here!

It's really heartbreaking but I can't help but feel like a hypocrite. I am worried that when I leave, I will forget about my experiences here and forget about the children I saw weaving in between cars selling carmelos; knowing the histories of the boys and how their histories are probably so widespread. The boys in the house make up about 12 (it depends all the time as boys come and go all the time. But there are about 7 who have been there for a few years). That is only 12 boys out of how many people, how many children who live in extreme poverty in Lima? I can't help but think whether or not more can be done, and if so how.

When I walk past the children selling candies on the streets, or playing music - I wonder if I could help them more. If I gave them the contact of the CEDRO Casa Hogares, would this work? I really don't know, I don't want to cross the line and overstep my boundary as a volunteer as I don't know what I do and do not have the authority to do.

I guess in the end, I just have to be content with what I am doing at the house. You can't help everybody, but you can try your best and help the some that seek it.

Anyway...I wanted to write more but my eyelids are closing on their own accord and I still need to shower! Nos vemos mi amigos!

Besos,
Renee

Bloat baby bloat...disco inferno!

2009-02-17T23:49:00.000-05:00

A list type blog!!

Things that I will return to Canada with

a giant belly due to the unexpected weight gain here. Food here is different in terms of heaviness than what I am accustomed too...usually a diet of fruit, yogurt, cereal, toast and coffee. I'm none to pleased about this new addition to myself.

Dark skin. From all the sun! This I am okay returning with.

Popeye type arms. No amount of yoga practice can help you with keeping your balance while standing on a Limeno bus. You develop some crazy arm muscles from all the twisting and straining you do holding onto the bars and trying to keep your balance.

Improved knowledge of the Spanish language!

A lot of scars from blisters.

A lot of scars from the GIANT mosquito bites I get here!

A stuffed llama doll! Yay! Well I haven't purchased it yet but I will.

Things about Peru that I will miss:

Fun salsa and cumbia music playing in the public buses!

Getting change from your fare for public transit

The weather (obviously)

Beaches!

Chicha morada!

The boys I work with of course

Speaking Spanish everyday

Picarones!

Papa rellenas

The fun, mixed-use neighbourhoods around here

In a way...the crazy driving here. It makes the trip more interesting although I am sure I would have a heart attack trying to drive in it.

How kind people are here.

Palm trees.

Things about Peru that I will not miss:

The constant cat calling

The sweat that I form from the weather (even though I said I would miss it)

How expensive chocolate is here!

The milk. I really do not enjoy the milk here at all.

The cockroaches! Oh for the love of god the cockroaches!

Not having to hang my clothes outside to dry. I have something against hanging my clothes outside...I just feel like they don't get clean. Hahaha. My sister is the same way it's not just me!

And...that's all I can remember right now! I'll add more as they come up!

Saludos,
Renee

Trials and Tribulations of Rrrrrrenee

2009-02-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

So, I have been Lima for about a month now, mas o menos 1 or 2 days. Things have been pretty great, though I've run into a few trials and tribulations, though none that are serious.

For example, walking can be frustrating for me. As it is, my ethnicity and my gender are made all the more apparent to by sleazy men that frequent your everyday public spaces. It's universal, cat calling and ethnic-specific comments; it happens to me in Canada, in Asia, anywhere. However, it doesn't make it any less frustrating and the frequency that it occurs in Lima has been frustrating. Not a day goes by where I do not get some sort of sexually charged remark from men. While some might find it flattering, I for one find it degrading and disrespectful. I know that men probably do not mean any harm by it, and that maybe they really do think that they are paying you a compliment. For me however, I find it degrading; having worked so hard in my life to get to where I am only to be reduced to something pretty to look at is infuriating. But, I digress. There is not much I can do about it than ignore the cat calls and the remarks of "China" or "Chinita" and every so often, fragments of Mandarin, but more often, Japanese.

On a lighter note; my state of being lost seems to have followed me from Canada to Lima. This past weekend alone, I got lost trying to find a) Larcomar, the mall by the coast where I read there is a bookstore with a good selection of English novels and b) Museo de Nacional Antropologia. Both times that I got lost, I stumbled upon artist and Indian markets and there I put to test my very bad bartering skills. For me, knocking off 2-3 sols in achievement worth celebrating! Though I haven't been getting so lost that I have no idea where North is or where the street I need to catch the bus on is, so at least I'm getting better. Speaking of the bus system, I think I have the hang of it! Of course a few weeks ago I ended up in a rather sketchy neighourhood at the street that I needed, but waaaaay the hell East of where I live (as luck would have it, I was 1 centimo short of 1 sol so I could not take the bus; I took a cab instead). The other weekend I got off way too early and stumbled upon the Canadian Embassy, but if you asked me to find it again I couldn't tell you. I did however take a photo of it though (like that would help you)

From Lima

Notice how the Canadian flag is so similar to the Peruvian flag?!

Last weekend I ventured to Lima Centro where 2 big things happened (big depending on your definition of big): a) I discovered the most delicious Peruvian dessert known to mankind - picarones and b) this creepy man hit on me. There I was enjoying the Carnaval parade and this man, who came up to my ear insists on talking to me, frequently touching my arm and that we should take a walk, asking for my address so that he can bring me food one day, telling me I'm beautiful, etc etc. I awkwardly stood there for about 10 minutes talking to him, trying not to be rude and also trying to keep watching the parade as really, how often does one get a chance to see that? When the parade ended and he insisted on walking and I insisted on walking alone, he followed me until I had to firmly tell him that no, I would really rather be alone. I wasn't sure how to take the situation; I wasn't sure if he was just being friendly or had more sinister intentions, either from robbing me blind or worse. As it is, being a single female alone in a city that I am unfamiliar with, I have been taking every precaution to avoid certain situations.

But the day was made better when I bought my delicious, honey soaked plate of picarones that I bought in this little quaint market-like area whose quaintness still does not quite balance out the wretched state of the River Rimac, which runs brown and quite polluted.

vs.

From Lima

This is when trouble struck. Approximately 2-3 bees decided that it would be really great idea to follow me and my plate of picarones around. Every time I thought that I had evaded the damn things, I would freak out by their little buzzing and their little stings by my ear. And if anybody has ever seen me in the presence of buzzing insects in my ear, you know that when I freak out, I really freak out. So there I was alone in this public square, devouring a plate of fatty dessert and beating my free arm around my head and walking one way, and then sharply walking the other way. Needless to say, I drew a bit of attention and there were several people who gave me some quizzical looks, and others who flat out laughed. Luckily, I am not one who easily gets embarrassed so I continued what I was doing while simultaneously gobbling down my oozy, sticky and drippy dessert. That's $6 US by the way! Being a girl, with hormones, and cravings that accompany these hormones, it has been frustrating.

Now...when it comes to paying, it's no problem. I speak well enough Spanish to tell them that no, I don't have a Vivanda card or to understand then when they tell me the total and whether or not I have XX of centimos. It's bagging where the problem begins. As it custom for me, I bring my reusable cloth bag to put my groceries in; in the supermarket that I go to, the employee bags your groceries for you. Every time I will tell them that I have a bag, but then they will start putting my stuff in plastic bags anyway. Then I have to insist that they use the cloth bag, which always gets me quizzical looks. All is good, they take the cloth bag and I turn back to see the total. Then I turn back around and realize that they have bagged everything in plastic bags, and then put the plastic bags in my cloth bags!! Aaah! Of course, taking everything out of the plastic bags and into the cloth bag and returning the plastic bags back to them gets me looks like I am a whack-job but I do it anyway. As I leave, the cashier and bag-boy are probably laughing behind my back about what a nutcase I am. Haha...oh well.

Yet another tribulation of mine is walking after dark. Not that I am scared of walking after dark, on the contrary in some parts of the city I really love it because they only really come alive after dark. But where I live, it's quiet residential area filled with...you guessed it...cockroaches. Not just any cockroaches. Cockroaches that have suffered from the Amazon effect and as a result are the size of your entire palm and they fly no less! During the day it's fine, but after dark these little buggers come out and wreak havoc on the path of the ordinary pedestrian. Seeing them scurry about sends me in a frenzy as I am worried they'll claw up my pant leg, or worse, sometimes my bare leg! Stepping on them is even worse as you just can't get over the feeling that you just stepped on some Captain Crunch cereal...but with more mess and revulsion. Of course I am not so crazy as to let this prevent me from walking after dark...but I definitely am apprehensive and walk with my toes curled until I get into a safely zone of light that drives the roaches away.

*shudder*

Anyway...that is that for now. I am too lazy to write down the cookie story so I will provide this video instead:

http://picasaweb.google.es/makrenee/Lima?authkey=AVTnyM3jJ3U#5292790514423591250

It's shower time for this here sticky gal!! Te hablo pronto!

Besos,
Renee

Como se dice...?

2009-01-29T19:23:00.000-05:00

Como se dice...? The question I find myself asking the most. That and "perdon?" or "que significa?" It has been nearly 3 weeks since I've been in Lima and things are going well. The language barrier is still present, but that's okay.

The strangest thing since arriving in Lima is that I haven't really experienced any adjustment time. Since landing here, life has gone by pretty easily and I haven't really experienced shock at anything. Of course it's exciting being here and seeing this new city in this new country that I have never been to prior, but I do look forward to traveling to the more exotic and unique regions of South America, like Machu Picchu (even though it's a major tourist destination, I still think it will be amazing), Lake Titicaca, the jungle, etc.

For example, I went to Pueblo Azules today in La Victoria. The only way I can describe it is like a run down mall with a lot of different vendors in tiny little stores and they sell everything, and I mean everything. To many people, it would probably be a really different experience as there are so many people, the stores are so close to each other and there is a lot of commotion as people call at you to shop at their establishments. To me it's very similar to Asia, though apparently the prices are a little more expensive here...or I just really suck at bartering. Hahaha...it's probably the latter but oh well.

Last weekend I went to Miraflores and Barranco with Kokoro, a Japanese tenant who lives in the same house as me. Things were good...I really love the atmosphere of Barranco. It's just so...relaxed and I love being able to see the sea from the many cafes. The thing I really like about Lima is that it's coast is so far down below from the rest of the city. The usual planning that occurs within waterfront cities is that huge array of skyscrapers that obscures the view of the waterfront from the rest of the city. In Lima, it's not like that. Instead, there are so many parks and different areas where you can just sit and enjoy watching the ocean. The actual beaches itself in the city however I am not a huge fan of. The area of sand that is available to lounge on is a little deplorable, and a lot of the beaches have large rocks instead. And there are SO many people!!

But luckily I've gotten the chance to go to the beaches south of the city twice since being here. Last weekend I went with Monica, my employer and just yesterday with the boys of Casa Los Delfines for their soccer competition there. It was fun times being in the ocean yesterday, despite the fact that I can't swim and being tossed around in the ocean ended up with me having sand in places where I would rather not have sand. On the plus side, the sand that made its way into my bikini top made me look like I had larger breasts, albeit misshapen ones. On the down side, the sand that made its way into my bikini bottom made me look like I pooed myself. And somehow, the sand in bottoms got wedged into the lining so I couldn't even try to get it out by pulling down on my bottoms a little bit and letting the waves wash them out. Instead, I had to walk to the bathroom, barefoot over hot sand, acutely aware that it looked like I pooed myself. I got burned last Saturday when I went with Monica and her family, and now my back looks like a peeling mess. It's quite disgusting actually...and the worst part is that I can't even do a good job of moisturizing my back because my arms just don't bend that way!

This weekend I will be doing a bike tour of Miraflores and Barranco. I think it would have been more enjoyable in Lima Centro, but I know how people drive in Lima Centro and I'd rather walk on the sidewalk and enjoy the sites than bike on the road and keep looking behind me to make sure a car isn't gaining on me!

There are some interesting things I have noticed about Lima (from a planning perspective mostly). The city is rife with one way streets...almost every street is a one way street, and those that aren't are wide boulevards influenced by the City Beautiful style with large and vegetated medians in the centre. The post-colonial architecture is a mix of modern and postmodern...and you'd be hard pressed to find a building with a peaked roof...it seems that the block is the prevailing style of architecture here. I am not sure how I feel about it...walking through my neighbourhood of San Isidro is nice, but I could see that some people might find it impersonal. Though the setbacks are nonexistent where the home is pushed right up to the sidewalk, it's the garage right next to the sidewalk and a lot of the houses have fences that you walk next to. Not exactly the most inviting, but that's not all of the houses.

The traffic here is still crazy. Though I am a fan of the buses here, even though they are confusing. They're more personal it seems, it's not likely that you'll board a bus that hasn't been personalized by the driver and the cobrador. I often see little stuffed animals hanging from the windows, or decorative tinsel (I think it's called tinsel?) and once, a rather large and framed photo of Jesus. The funniest thing I find is the honking here. A lot of the cars have this funny like and almost comedic honk...I just can't take it seriously when they're honking at somebody. It sounds like something that would come out of a clown car. Hahaha.

As for work, things are going really well. I can tell that some of the boys are getting a little frustrated with the language barrier, but others are being so patient and helpful so it balances it. The boys have been going to a dance class twice a week and it is the funniest thing ever watching adolescent Peruvian boys dance. One of the boys ran away this week, which makes me really sad. Steffen, the other volunteer tells me that he was living on the streets for many years and was addicted to drugs. He is such a sweet and good natured boy, and was so enthusiastic about learning. I worry about him because I know that he will probably start using drugs again and most likely does not have a place to stay. But the house is open and boys can stay and leave as they please...I am not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I know that you cannot force the boys to stay at the house but it just seems like it's a better option for many of them and I wonder if they are able to survive on their own at such a young age.

I guess this is the first of one of the incidents that will probably come in the near future. Anyway...I continued this post after doing laundry and taking a shower and have since then lost my train of thought. Until later my readers!

Saludos,
Renee

Mi primera semana de practica

2009-01-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

So I have completed my first full week of practice at the refuge home. To recap, I work in the district of La Victoria, a more impoverished area of Lima. Over and over again, I have been told that La Victoria is super dangerous but my experience so far has been a positive one. But of course I am on Avenida 28 de Julio, which is quite busy with street vendors and numerous restaurants and shops that open up onto the street. You don't see enough of these in Canada, though I supposed that the climate doesn't really allow it. Stores that completely open up to the street without walls isn't really viable in -30 weather.

My work has been going well. My first day the other German volunteer, Steffen, was present. But he has been sick since Monday, or at least I think he is. He hadn't shown up the remainder of the week and called in sick on Tuesday with stomachache, but haven't heard from him since. I just hope that he's okay.

I taught a few classes of English this week, one in a group but mostly individually, and I started to teach some graphic design classes today. Mostly, I have just spent time with the boys, talking to them and hanging out with them. During lunch I help them get food from the local soup kitchen that is put in large containers and carried back to the house. Even though sometimes the food makes my stomach a little upset, I want to eat it. Of course it is not the best tasting food and seeing the conditions of the soup-kitchen could make the stomach of the average person turn, for me it is important to live my experiences here in Lima as humbling as possible. In any case, I know that the boys appreciate that I eat the same food as them, as demonstrated by a conversation I had with one of the older boys who when he asked me what I had for lunch and I told him the same food, he was surprised but also pleased.

All of the boys are so sweet and I am really starting to like them. Today when I was waiting for the bus to take my home, I felt a little emotional. It is just hard to imagine that these boys come from histories of drug abuse and violence...they all just seem so happy go lucky. Of course, I am sure that their behaviour with me is affected by the fact that I am a young female. Hahaha...they all seem so bent on being perfect little gentleman, it makes me laugh.

For example, every time we come back from the soup kitchen, they don't like to let me help carry the buckets of food. Juan, an adorable 16 year old was telling me that it's not right for a woman to have to do work and Carlos always tells me that the only help I am supposed to do is be their companion and converse with them their and back. Today, like everyday, when I entered the soup-kitchen there were a series of wolf whistles which at this point, I have gotten accustomed to (not that I like it). Juan made a remark and said that he would beat them up for me. Hahaha. Other examples include the boys getting a chair for me and making the other get up from the big chair so that they could give it to me, or asking me if I'm comfortable and turning on the fan for me.

I still worry that I won't be able to contribute much. I am not sure if just being there is helpful, but I hope that it is.

Anyway...I had intended to make this blog much longer...but I am so tired and need to get to sleep. Until later dear readers,

- Renee

La Cucaracha!

2009-01-19T22:46:00.000-05:00

I have had my first in-room encounter with a cockroach. I tried killing it the first time and was unsuccessful and I hoped that he crawled out and went elsewhere, but I saw him again today. I made a Vegas Roach Trap so hopefully it works.

So what to say about my last week in Lima? Well, it has been pretty amazing. Last week I went to Lima Centro again for the Anniversary of Lima festivities (they weren't too exciting though) and later that night found myself in Miraflores at a nice little lounge/pub where they played some good guitar (I don't want to make an arse of myself by giving it a name like Flamenco or Spanish because I don't know the regional differences in guitar in Latin America).

From Lima

Click to see the video!

Afterwards, we went to a nice little outdoor restaurant that served typical Peruvian food (or at least it said it did) and I had Sopa de Ciallo (spelling?) - Peruvian Beef Soup (sorry Kevin). AAH sorry, break - I just tried to kill the cockroach as I saw it on the wall. And the thing flew AT me, I didn't even know they flew!! Dios mio my heart is beating at 500 bpm right now! Anyway....let's calm myself and try to finish this blog...and then try to sleep tonight with that thing in my room!

Beer in Lima appears to be really cheap...about 7 sols at the place that I went to with the guitar. But I had wine anyway so it doesn't matter. Miraflores is much more enjoyable at night than during the day...as corny as it sounds, it comes alive at night. I imagine that Barranco is something similar.

From Lima

To give some perspective, Miraflores and Barranco are quite affluent and touristy districts. There are a lot of bars, clubs and nice hotels in these districts...much different than La Victoria, where I work, and Rimac, where the other group homes with CEDRO are located.

Last week I practiced taking the bus to La Victoria and i also visited Rimac. It was an interesting experience. I have been told that La Victoria is a rough district and that there is a lot of crime there. Myself, I didn't really see it. There are people all over the streets, street-fronting shops and vendors. But, this is also on a main road in La Victoria and where I work is also next to the police station, which would obviously have an effect on the safety of the area. Rimac was a very different and almost surreal experience for me. I visited Rimac right after seeing La Victoria. Where La Victoria has public spaces (such as Manco Capo square), Rimac lacks in this and where there are people on the streets in La Victoria, there are hardly any in Rimac. It used to be an area of the Spanish Viceroyalty, but it has since become dilapidated; the buildings are crumbling and entire parts of the sidewalk are missing. It is interesting for me to see poverty in a completely different light, poverty as most of the world lives it, and not the poverty that we find in developed countries.

Today was my first day of my volunteer practice at La Casa Hogares - Los Delfines; the group home for boys in La Victoria. It was interesting to say the least. I am acutely aware of my awful Spanish, and it was made more obvious by the laughter of the boys. Though in my opinion, it was not malicious laughter but more just the laugher of boys. I don't know much about their backgrounds, I do know that many of them come from broken homes where drugs played a large role, and some where addicted to drugs themselves. I don't expect to see the personalities of their past come out anytime soon, if ever. Considering that I am not a psychology major, I might not even recognize it if and when it does, and because I am a stranger who does not speak the language that well, and who is new, they probably will not open up to me quickly.

All day, the boys were asking me questions like where I come from, where my parents are from...but most of all, how to say things in Cantonese. Of course I got the ubiquitous "what is my name in Chinese" question that is asked of me by so many people in general. For lunch, we went to the soup kitchen in La Victoria to pick up food in giant tubs to bring back to the house. It was interesting to see the center and Steffen, the other volunteer, was telling me that last week he saw a fight occur over people trying to be first in line. The food was rice, with mashed potato (I think it was mashed potato?) and a hamburger patty. To me, it was not very appetizing in the manner that it was served, and just the food itself. But that is exactly the case in point. I wonder if all soup kitchen food is similar in quality to this and I wonder, why is it that because a population is impoverished that they deserve less than what we, the privileged population would settle for? While I understand that soup kitchens make food on a large scale basis I do believe that more efforts could be made to make better quality food. The adage of 'beggars can't be choosers' is not something that I can say I agree with.

Anyway...I am getting quite sleepy. Need to work tomorrow and it is quite late, and I'm sure I'll have a non-restful sleep knowing that there is a cockroach in my room scheming and probably also breeding.

Just a few quick notes on Lima (many from the planner's perspective, I apologize)

The City Beautiful movement finds its expression very well in this city

Not many people bike, it is not a very bike friendly city. However those roads that do have bike lanes have them in the center and separated by vegetated and raised buffers

In Lima Centro they had an exhibition of redevelopment areas in Lima. I was surprised to see that the models were not of top quality considering that the city put up this exhibition. I noticed a lot of displacement in these redevelopment plans. It appears that redevelopment-->displacement is a widespread phenomenon.

On the road, lines for lanes are really more of a suggestion than anything else

It is difficult to sound tough or be taken seriously on the road when you have that ubiquitous silly horn that sounds like a clown horn

Anyway...I can barely keep my eyes open. So it is time for me to go!!

Nos vemos,
Renee

Dia 3!

2009-01-13T20:57:00.000-05:00

Today was a slow day. I woke up at 10:30am because I am a lazy arse, and I left my alarm ringing on snooze for 1.5 hours and never left my bed even though there was a lot of activity going on outside of the house (ie. that dumb dog barking) and people on the phone outside my room. I stayed in bed, and it was soooo good. Hahaha, I don't often get to sleep in for long hours so I savour it when I can.

Didn't do much today other than be lazy. I was talking with Irma, Margarita's sister (I met Catalina, Margarita's other sister yesterday) and Sonia, the cook about schools that offered Spanish courses. I found a school in Miraflores, but I think it'll be too expensive, and there was the Euro Idioma school close to my place, but they didn't offer much except for private classes for Spanish lessons...which is just too expensive for me. So, as it stands so far, my Spanish education will just have to be from living life in Peru. Which I am sure will work and I expect to have a better grasp of the language by the time I leave, but I think the process would just be faster if I took a course.

Walked around Avenida Salvaverry and Javier Prado trying to find the Euro Idioma school. It took me forever and in the end I had to ask some people at this small university for hotel management and tourism (at least that is what I think it said) and then they asked the cops. Haha. Oh geez. Afterwards I went to the grocery store and bought some bottled water and tried to purchase some sweet things to indulge in my recent craving for chocolate, chips, etc. As it is however, things appear quite expensive here! Chocolate was about $6 USD for a small box that wasn't that great of quality. I bought some Peruvian cookies that have a creme center that sort of look like dulce de leche, unfortunately they are kind of disappointing. Oh well. Body lotion is also expensive here so I cheaped out and bought this large, but sketchy bottle of lotion. I'm sure it's fine though.

I forgot to mention a few things that happened yesterday. I remember choosing my taxi driver for the reason that his dash was covered in this blue tasseled blanket and he had some small little trinkets on the dash, like a little sombrero and my favourite, a little stuffed snowman. At a red light he picked up the snowman and was looking at it and I couldn't help but smile at myself. It's nice to see that people don't lose their childishness even when they are older.

Oh and today, walking home I almost stepped on a cockroach. Not just any cockroach, it was HUGE. The size of my index finger!! I freaked out as calmly as one could freak out, and this couple walking by looked at me funny. But seriously...that cockroach was HUGE. I am used to the little, mincey Toronto apartment cockroaches (of which during the summer, Natalie and I had the unfortunate incident of finding one in the bathroom. I did nothing but freak out and Natalie killed it). This cockroach was all big, and shiny, and dark and fast. Ugggh. *shudder*

The funny thing is that the weather doesn't actually seem like it would warrant cockroaches that large! Today, during my walk I was wearing jeans and a sleeveless top. While I still got a bit uncomfortable in my jeans, it was still bearable, whereas in Asia when I wear jeans in the summer - well, let's just put it this way, I don't wear jeans in the summer. I tried once and I made it about 1 block away from my grandparents apartment before I returned to change.

I have a favourite drink here in Peru! It's called 'chicha morado'. It's made from maiz, the one that is in the house is made from purple maiz. When Sonia first told me (or rather showed me because I didn't know what morada meant) I was a little surprised. I'm drinking a drink made from corn?!? Anyway, it's spiced with what tastes like cloves, cinnamon and apples and it is delicious!

From Lima

Sonia con los maizes morado

From Lima

Bebida chicha y las sobras de mi almuerza

From Lima

For my sister

I forgot to mention yesterday, I saw something interesting. It was a gas station embedded IN the road! I wasn't able to catch a photo of it because my taxi driver was driving at neck-breaking speed. Think of it as where in a typical North American vegetated divider in the center of the road...but instead, it was a thin(ish) and linear. It's a good idea, but at the same time, also kind of dangerous. I mean you're just driving along and you realize you need gas, you don't even need to make any turns. You just glide right in...but then again, with the way that people drive in Lima, I would not feel comfortable just standing so close to the edge of the road (and it was a major road), filling up my car.

I have mixed feelings about the planning here. The roads are kind of a series of grids mashed together, you can see how the city progressed building district to district as it continued to sprawl. In central Lima there is a part that is planned in City Beautiful form...I quite like it. The residential neighbourhood that I live in states each block in the road (blocks = cuadra here), it's useful because you'll always know whether or not you're heading in the wrong direction if the block numbers are increasing or decreasing.

I'm still trying to get adjusted to the life in this house. It's a bit weird for me, and I'm worried it's going to be hard. First of all, it's strange to have all of my meals cooked for me. But there is also the language barrier but mostly that I am just not used to this individualistic type of living. I don't really see Kokoro much, and I've only seen the Peruvian resident once or twice...and have never talked to him. I've seen Midori more, but her husband less. I see Irma the most, then Sonia and Margarita (at least it seems this way for now). Midori, her husband, and Kokoro and the Peruvian resident seem quite a bit older than me and they are all coupled. This is also an adjustment for me because in Waterloo, in the last term, I lived in a house that had a really strong sense of community. I sometimes even attribute it to communal living, because sometimes that it was it felt like...like a co-operative. People were always around and talking to one another. Then again, I also had the room adjacent to the kitchen....so of course people were always around! Hahaha.

So far though, I feel good and I am happy here. I am just worried that I will begin to feel lonely if I do not meet people and make friends soon. Of course it is difficult with that language barrier, but slowly and surely. I am excited to start work because it will also keep me busy and I hope to be able to contribute to CEDRO and in the future, to the world. Baby steps.

Anyway...my poor back is hurting from hunching to write this blog entry. So...I is off!! Te hablo pronto!

Saludos,
Renee

Dia 2 en Lima

2009-01-12T20:57:00.000-05:00

Segunda dia en Lima. Hoy iba a Lima Centro y oficina de WUSC (llamo SUMC en Peru) en la distrito de San Luis. Observe la Plaza San Martin, Calle Capon, Hotel Bolivar y que crei es la Plaza de Armas pero ahora, no creo este estuvo la Plaza de Armas.

Anyway...that is that. In English that translated to "Second day in Lima. Today I went to Lima Centro and the WUSC office (called SUMC in Peru) in the district of San Luis. I looked at the Plaza San Martin, Chinatown, Hotel Bolivar and what I thought was the Plaza of Arms but now I don't believe that it was. So yes, in a nutshell that was what I did today.

Juan, from SUMC, came this morning to accompany me to the SUMC office in San Luis. We walked to the district Lince and took a 'combi' (small, privately owned buses) to San Luis. It was a little confusing, I asked Juan where the bus stops were but I guess there aren't really many. It is more like...the corner of the street is the bus stop. The bus pulled to a stop, a person jumped out of the side sliding door and was yelling out street names and holding a sign. We boarded and Juan told the operator where we were off. So usually in Canada I am a backseat driver and I shoulder check for people and grip the seats when I get scared with somebody's driving. To put it politely, I think that upon my return to Canada, driving with other people will be really relaxing. As it is, in Lima it appears as if car lanes don't really exist, or at least people don't know or don't care that they exist. The cars have the right of way and if a car wants in your lane, or to turn left when they really aren't supposed to, they will. More stories to come later with my taxi adventure.

In San Luis, we passed through a busy corridor into quite residential where the SUMC office is. I met the members of the Peru division of WUSC/SUMC, the names I remember were Juany Leon and Ted Swanson. A lot of the problem I have with meeting people here is that I can't catch their names because I do not recognize a lot of Spanish names. Juan and Ted had a conversation about internal office things, and I tried to keep up with understanding them. Ted's Spanish was slightly easier to understand because he spoke slower, but still not easy for me. I realized today that I have more of a problem listening to Spanish than I do speaking it. Even though I probably sound like an idiot when I speak, I am still able to make myself understood though I am not able to understand other people. Aaargh. With time I suppose, with time.

Following the visit to the SUMC office, Juan was nice enough to take me to Lima Centro. We went via taxi, and taking the expressway was a much more relaxing experience than taking inner-city roads. It was interesting entering Lima Centro, most of it is this beautiful Colonial architecture but the first building you see arriving from the expressway is the Modern, brutalist Sheraton Hotel. It was strange for me to see a Sheraton hotel in such a stark building. But, concrete was the hey day.

We stopped at the Plaza San Martin and Hotel Bolivar:

From Lima

Plaza San Martin

From Lima

Hotel Bolivar

From Lima

Colonial Architecture>

From there we walked to Calle Capon, which is the Chinatown here Lima. This Chinatown is apparently one of the first Chinatowns that was developed in the Southern Hemisphere of the world. Or maybe of just South America, I am not really sure, I didn't pay that much attention to the Wikipedia article.

From Lima

Juan and I ate at a 'Chifa' (the ubiquitous Peruvian-Chinese restaurant...no really, they really are everywhere). At the Chifa I had fried rice, which I learned in Spanish is Arroz chaufa and vegetables covered in hoisen sauce and fried wontons. It really wasn't that much different from the kind of North American Chinese food I have had in Canada, though I couldn't really tell which was better quality. I also tried a Peruvian pop, which was okay - it sort of had the taste of anise but not really, but I also don't like pop in general so I didn't enjoy it too much.

From Lima

Este es Juan!

From Lima

My wontons...they didn't have much fill in them, mostly fried pasty

From Lima

Inca Cola...in sketchy fluorescent yellow! Although black Coca Cola probably isn't normal either.

Afterwards, Juan and I just walked around a bit and I saw the Congress building and the Museum of Torture (which had free entry, unfortunately I didn't make it to the Museum of Anthropology today, but I'm not too worried I have 3 months to see if and I hopefully by then I will know the city a little better and know the buses).

From Lima

La calle

From Lima

Lugar de Congress

From Lima

Museum of Torture. Check out the detail on the ceiling!

From Lima

Blurry...I know. I have a shaky hand.

From Lima

Haha. I took this one for Abby whose last name is Paredes. Don't paint on the walls!! Don't paint on Abby!

From Lima

A crappy photo I took of the etchings on the wall made from former prisoners. They were deep! Grisly...

From Lima

Old torture devices...

From Lima

And...it all opens up to this beautiful courtyard!

From Lima

Afterwards, Juan attempted again to teach me how to take the bus back to San Isidro. From Avenida Javier Prado Oueste, I have no problem getting home. The problem is getting to that road. Anyway, I attempted to find Plaza de Armas, which I thought I did but then I did a quick image google when I got home and I realized that I just saw a slightly (but not really upon closer inspection) building that interpreted as Plaza de Armas. I am very impressed by the streets made beautiful by the surrounding architecture. I think the space could be utilized a lot better, for example with more cafes that open to the outdoors for more "observation of the social ballet" (planner in me coming out, I can't help it). But they are beautiful nonetheless.

From Lima

I like this contrast of old and new

From Lima

Upon my walking I noticed that there were not too many tourists, I saw some but not as many as I am used for such a beautiful area. But, as Juan says, it was a Monday afternoon and maybe more tourists will pop out in the latter part of the week. It was interesting to see so many darkened shops in the buildings. A lot of them didn't have electricity but to me, it still appeared uninviting but I tried not to let it bother me and eventually I went into a store and got an Apple Gatorade. I would have preferred to try something else, but at that time I was so ridiculously thirsty and the local Peruvian brand name drinks were so tiny compared to the Gatorade. No matter, I will try stuff along the way as time goes by. I didn't mange to find the Plaza de Armas and my feet started to hurt from blisters and from walking all day so I decided to walk back to Avenida Arancay and take a bus home.

Here is where I ran into problems. Avenida Arancay is ridiculously busy, there are people walking about and selling things all over and cars everywhere!! I am surprised that I have not seen a person get hit yet! So...I stood at one corner of the street, looking for a bus that had Javier Prado written on the side or listening for one of the operators to shout it out, or hold out a sign. Nada. I asked a person after which bus goes to Javier Prado and he pointed me out to a blue bus and told me to cross the street and go get it. So...I crossed to the other corner, almost getting hit along the short way, and then attempted to ask again. Nobody knew, or I didn't properly understand. I didn't see any buses stopping for passengers anyway, and I didn't know how to make them stop. In retrospect, I guess flagging them down like you would a taxi might have worked.

So I walked to a more quiet street and flagged down a taxi. The smallest taxi I have ever seen, or been in...well really, just the smallest car. The seatbelt...sort of worked? I won't lie I was a little worried for my safety in the taxi...this taxi driver drove like a maniac and I was just gripping my bag in the backseat...in awe that he has not gotten in an accident yet. I think again, my Spanish wasn't write. When I agreed on the price before getting in, I heard "dos" when I asked how much, which didn't seem right to me because it costs ~1.20 sols to take the bus to San Isidro, I couldn't imagine that a taxi would only be slightly more expensive. Then the taxi driver help up 7 fingers, which I interpreted as 7 sols, but 'dos' and 'siete' sound very different, and even though my speaking and listening skills in Spanish aren't that great, I can still tell the difference between numbers. When I got to my place, I gave the driver 10 sols and he was fine with that...maybe he had said "diez" all along. Juan told me that a ride from Lima Centro to San Isidro should cost no more than 10 sols so I guess I didn't get ripped off, but I also don't think I got the best price. In any case, I don't really care. I understand that as a foreigner, I will be 'ripped off' often, but in my mind I don't really see it as being ripped off. Unless somebody is ripping me off of ridiculous amounts of money, then I don't really take it to heart. After all, coming from a very privileged life, it would be unfair of me to make a big beef out of paying a few extra dollars to somebody who might need it more than me (this is respect to just things in general, street markets, taxis, etc).

Got home, practiced some yoga in the garden of Margarita's (my landlord) house.

From Lima

The piano! Which I tried to play this morning.

From Lima

The garden.

From Lima

Living room

It was difficult to be at peace during my practice as somebody was setting off what sounded like firecrackers (or gunshots but I don't think so in this neighbourhood) every 5 minutes or so. Afterwards I ate some dinner that the cook in the house prepared and put on a plate with my name on it (spelt 'Rene', as most people spell it anywhere around the world it seems. Although 'Rene' is better than 'Renne'. I never understand where people get 'Renne' from). The dinner was mostly delicious, although one part I didn't enjoy so much. I had initially thought it was plain white rice, but it was prepared in a way that was so much more savoury and tasty. The chicken was delicious! Maybe it's just been a long time, but I haven't had such a flavourful chicken in so long! The last part of the dinner was a like a sweet, yellow pudding/paste. If I was asking and translating correctly, it is made of a root vegetable specific to Peru. I think it must have been mixed with a bit of milk because it had a similar taste to the Peruvian milk here (which is slightly sweet and I am not a fan. But I am not really a fan of milk in general. It reminded me slightly of the milk in Japan which had a similar consistency but I can't remember the taste. I drank the milk anyway the other day, just like I ate the rest of this yellow pudding/paste). It looked something like this

Afterwards...shower, then talking to some people online and blogging! Meanwhile watching some TV (to think, the first time I've ever had a TV in my room and the first time I've actually had access to a TV regularly in 2 years is in Lima. Strange.). Still on watching English programs with subtitles but with all the talking and blogging, I don't really pay too much attention to the screen. But I am hopeful with interacting with people in Spanish everyday, I'll improve quickly. With hope, with hope.

Anyway...it is late and even though I don't have any plans tomorrow, I am getting quite tired. Until later my dear readers!!

Saludos,
Renee

Llege en Lima!

2009-01-11T19:51:00.000-05:00

I have arrived in Lima! I got here early this morning, around 1am after some delays on the flight. I felt terrible for the taxi driver that World University Service of Canada (WUSC) sent, he was waiting around for some 3 hours or so. Oh geez.

During the flight, I managed to employ my bad Spanish skills and spoke to a few people on the plane, asking one woman if she needed help getting her carry-on in the overhead bin. Though I believe it might have accidentally come out as "I need help" rather than "You need help". I get all flustered when I am speaking that I forget a lot of things and get too anxious to listen carefully! I hope that that improves with time, and I hope to be able to find a good and cheap conversational Spanish course to help me out.

Moving on, I live in a big house with I believe, though I am not entirely sure, 7 other people, including an infant. There are 3 Japanese volunteers/teachers living upstairs and 1 Peruvian. I haven't really met any of them, and I am not sure whether any of them speak English or Japanese. My landlord is a cute little Japanese lady named Margarita, and her sister lives with her also.

From Random Lima

The house I live in in San Isidro

I haven't managed to meet the other people living in the house yet, the 4 people upstairs. Hopefully I manage to be able to, I am worried that because I am new and because of the obvious language barrier that it will be hard for me to meet them and other people as well. But...it is only the first day. Hopefully I will be able to enroll in a good conversationalist Spanish course and meet some people who I can practice my broken Spanish with but also some people that I am able to relate to. Though of course I also want to make some local friends as well, I would be disappointed if I was not able to develop a relationship with any locals.

I live in the district of San Isidro, it's a affluent residential district adjacent to Miraflores and close(ish) to La Victoria (where I work), at least it appears close on the map. Earlier today Margarita and Juan, the WUSC representative in Peru took me a round a bit in San Isidro. I later took a walk on my own.

I didn't find too many sites that were exceptional to me, but still in all the residential neighbourhoods here are much more interesting than those in North America.

From Random Lima

This is the damn dog that woke me up in the morning

From Random Lima

This is the street that I live on

The houses here are beautiful, and in a way are more grand than those in North America and in another way, not. The architecture is interesting, it's very blocky (as in not many houses have peaked roofs) but the houses are gorgeous. Upon my way, I happened upon a set of vending machines just sitting about:

From Random Lima

They made me laugh and reminded me of Japan, however these ones don't sell panties like they do in Japan. Hahaha. I walked to the grocery store, which is the ritziest grocery store I have ever been to! Of course, in Waterloo I regularly go to Bulk Barn. I bought 2 bottles of water, but I hadn't realized they were carbonated! I really should have just taken the time because I do understand what "con gas" means. As a result, during my walk when I got thirsty, the contents of my water exploded and spewed all over me! =(

I walked down Calle Dos de Mayo and happened upon a couple of Chifas (Chinese-Peruvian restaurants) before I ended up at Avenida Arequipa. This road was a little scary for me, not that I was scared of the people or anything of that sort. I was just scared of crossing the roads at this street. After my trip from the airport to the house, I believe everything I have heard about drivers in Lima! My former idea of biking around was immediately dispelled from my head. Hahaha.

I felt a bit strange during my walk because I wasn't sure whether or not I should look and smile at people. In the intercultural information I found on Peru, it had noted that eye contact between members of the opposite sex can be easily misconstrued, though I guess this is very similar as in North American. So I didn't end up saying hello to the couple of men who had said hi to me, though I suppose I would react similarly in Canada.

Arriving here and speaking with Margarita, Juan, the cashier at the grocery store and others I realize just how poor my spoken Spanish is. So, my resolve is to also watch more TV (I KNOW I never watch TV). First I will watch the programs in English and relate them to the Spanish subtitles, and then I will move onto Spanish programs. We'll see how that goes, I would hate for my time to fly by here so quickly without vastly improving my Spanish skills.

The house that I am living at includes meals and it is so strange to have somebody cooking my meals for me! Since I've moved to Ontario, I have grown accustomed to cooking my own meals. I feel like Margarita is like a little Japanese mother, making sure I eat. Hahaha.

Anyway...I am surprisingly sleepy so I am going to do some quick yoga before bed, without a yoga mat, and then head to bed. Sorry, this blog entry is sort of crappy...I will try harder in the future. Hahaha.

Talk to you later my dear readers!
Renee

A Lima en dos semanas!

2008-12-27T02:55:00.000-05:00

Leaving for Lima in 2 weeks exactly. It still has not really hit me, and I don't expect that it will until I am physically on the plane towards Lima. And even then, it probably will not hit me until I step off the plane, out of the airport and into the actual city.

I would be lying if I said I am scared senseless for this adventure I am about to embark upon. Moving to Ontario 2 years ago was a big deal to me, and I found it difficult to do so in part of not knowing anybody, having troubles finding friends that I could relate to and just moving away from home for the first time ever. I am not sure if I should expect much the same, combined with a language barrier and culture shock, but I am hoping to make the most of my experience.

In the end, I am doing this volunteer internship with the intent of learning more about the social class that I am most unfamiliar with and that in the future, I hope and intent to work with more. Of course, I would be lying if I said if my intent was completely selfless. Obviously I am excited for the opportunity to travel to South America and see as much of it as possible, but also to continue my education of myself and who I am as a person, what I am capable of and who I am capable of becoming. It is of course my desire that I could become the best person that I could be. Of course it has been difficult balancing a North American lifestyle with a desire to help others.

Often, I struggle with an internalized criticism that I cannot be genuine about my want to help others if I lead such a luxurious lifestyle. Of course, by no means is my life as a student defined as luxurious by many, but more even more I have things in my life, that for that the entirety of my existence, I have mostly always taken for granted. Things like this laptop that I am writing this blog on, the large suburban house I grew up in, the piano and piano lessons my parents provided me, the car(s) that I have ready accessibility to and even being able to be a part of the Students Without Borders volunteer internship is in itself a luxury that I know many would not be able to afford. First of all, not only would one have to be a university student, something many cannot afford, but secondly because of the costs attached to the internship and even though much of my funding has come from the generous support of my friends and family, of course I have contributed my own fair share of financing.

I hope that this internship will open my eyes to what it really means to help others and to open my eyes about my own life, and to learn to appreciate more than I already do the privileged life I lead in Canada. I also hope that this internship helps to quell the uneasiness I have also internalized with the hypocrisy that is inherent in the privileged helping the underprivileged. By this I mean trying to help those in need without really ever understanding them. It seems elitist almost, yet at the same time I am not prepared to give up my life of comfort to live in poverty, like saints in Christianity did (not that I'm religious or anything, but just to make myself a little more comprehensible). This is something I hope that I am able to work out in Peru, that I am able to either come to terms with the fact that while I may probably never live in destitute poverty, it does not mean that I must feel guilty about it and like an elitist trying to "help the little people" (so to speak); or that I am able to come to learn to live without certain luxuries in my life and to lead a more simple, but more humble lifestyle.

Anyway, there are many reasons for my fear and second thoughts ranging from "oh my god I'm going to fail and it's going to be a disaster and Students Without Borders is going to be so disappointed with me" to fear of moving to a new country with a new culture and a language that I do have a complete grasp to just the city itself and the horror stories I have heard about it. Of course, the latter I know is me being paranoid as even if crime is common in Lima, one must also understand that it is a) a very large city where of course crime rates are going to be higher because of that and b) it is in a developing country. The reality stands that the likelihood of me being robbed or hurt in Lima is probably about the same as the likelihood of me being robbed or hurt in Hong Kong. Even though I am Chinese, native Hong Kongers are always able to pick me out as an outsider and I expect that even with a sizable Chinese population in Lima, people will be able to tell that I am not your usual Peruvian Chinese.

But, I am still excited nonetheless. Fear is normal and it would be weird if I didn't have any. It's all part of the learning and adaptation process and I hope that I come out a better person.

De todas maneras, estoy es muy cansado. Es tiempo para me dormir! (I'm still working on my Spanish grammar here, give me a break! Hahaha)

Chau por ahora mi amigos!

- Renee

I'm leaving...on a jet plane!

2008-11-15T12:38:00.000-05:00

Mi boleta es compro! Estoy saliendo a Lima en la fecha 10 Enero 2009, pero estoy saliendo a Toronto en la fecha 7 Enero, 2009. Quiero mirar mis amigos de Ontario antes de mi fecha de salida, gracioso que ahora, me gustas Waterloo y Toronto mas que Calgary. Ahora, Calgary, para me, es mucho largo tiempo. No penso o extrano a Calgary nunca mas. Supongo, con tiempo, se aprendio amar un sitio - solamente traigo tiempo.

De todas maneras, tengo mucho cosas por escuela hacer de manera que voy hacerlo. *suspiro*

Hasta siguiente tiempo mis amigos!

Estoy firmando faltar,
Renee

Contando abajo los dias!

2008-11-12T01:58:00.000-05:00

I am going to try to write this in Spanish, bear with me.

Hoy es 12 Noviembre 2008. Hoy en dia estoy muy ocupada con trabajo de universidad. No tengo mucho tiempo para penso que estare viviendo en Lima en dos meses.

Estoy nervioso, estoy asustada que no estare hacer buenoo trabajo. Si bien mucho trabaje con jovenes y adolescentes, no tengo trabaje con jovenes y adolosecentes de familias violentas y no tengo trabaje con personas con problemas de drogas y abusos sexual.

Si bien experiencia de personas con problemas de mental, este fue una problema distinta. Espero que estare una persona de soporte y confianza y que los jovenes me miraran es la persona buena. Espero que jovenes estaran los personas que triunfaran en el futuro y estuve tener una responsibilidad en le.

Pero, ahora es mucho tarde de la noche o, si deseas, es mucho temprano de la manana! Sin embargo, tengo mucho trabajo que hacer asi que saldo ahora. Quiero dormirse...pero tambien esta es mucho trabajo hacer. Estare actualizar pronto mi amigos!

Buenas noches (o buenos dias! Jajaja)!

Saludos,
Renee

2008-10-28T15:49:00.001-05:00

Mi conversacion con el voluntario previo

2008-10-26T16:53:00.000-05:00

Today I had a conversation with Guillaume, a former volunteer with Students Without Borders (SWB) who was one of the two of the first volunteers with CEDRO. We spoke about the organization, his tasks as a volunteer and life in Lima in general.

After the conversation, I freaked out a little bit and had a bit of an anxiety attack. But, all is calm and well now. Hearing what he had to say, I now realize the weight of this particular volunteer position compared to some of the other ones that SWB offers; such as teaching English in Chiclayo (a touristy city), or being a nursing assistant at one of the local hospitals.

I will be working in the district of La Victoria. Obviously, with the nature of the organization being what it is, it is not exactly the safest of the districts in Lima. But, after an initial shock of fear, I accept this and realize that it would not be any other way. Outside of the westernized world, major cities are rife with crime and it is an unfortunate side effect of extreme poverty and an unjust system in the social fabric.

Hearing Guillaume talk about his experiences with working with the organization and the children; I must now mentally prepare myself for the challenges that are to come. In all of my past work and volunteer experiences, I have mostly worked with children who come from a very privileged background. I cannot say this is completely accurate, because in the end I never knew each individual child I ever worked with on such a level that I knew their personal history, and I am not sure if I would want to anyway. In this instance, the refuge home I will be working in; all of the children will be 'street kids', and this is a population that I have never really had the opportunity to work with.

Needless to say, I am scared senseless for not only the move and the city itself; but also the challenges that await me with my volunteer position. I want to come out of this experience being a better, stronger and more compassionate person and I hope that I will learn quickly. I realize that it's natural to be scared and nervous, even moving to Waterloo was scary for me; though I am sure that moving to Lima will be 10x more intense.

I only hope that I can take this experience and make it into what I want it to be.

Anyway dear readers, I have a group meeting on campus in an hour and I would like to work on my lab at bit before then!

Hasta luego! See you around the block...Mrs. Robinson.

Signing off,
Renee aka Wing Lei

Students Without Borders - Peru

2008-10-21T19:47:00.000-05:00

So, I got the position with Students Without Borders for the volunteer placement at Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogas (CEDRO).

It is pretty exciting; although it hasn't really hit me yet. I guess also in this swamp that is the work that the University of Waterloo tortures us with, I haven't really had the chance or the time to really let it sink it.

In any case, this will be my blog to keep friends and family updated about my life in Lima. I am not planning on bringing my laptop with me to Peru, so I am not sure how often I will be able to keep it updated, but I guess time will tell!

And now...off to edit an essay!!!

Signing off,
Ren-bot aka Renee