Comunidades Campesinas...here I come!

And so begins the whirlwind of my travels through the rural peasant communities of Puno. I have just arrived in Juli, the capital of the province of Chucuito. Located an hour from the border of Bolivia, Chucuito is one of the larger Aymara provinces in the department of Puno. The town of Juli is known as the little Rome of Latin America because of its picturesque cathedrals.

I left Puno this morning at 6:45 am and arrived in Juli at 8am, a bit earlier than expected thanks to a very fast combi ride. This morning I will have meetings with the leader of a missionary group of the Catholic Church as well as the director of the Institute on Rural Education. The goal for the next two to three days is to visit some communities and meet with local authorities. After the New Year, I will live in the region for a longer period of time to complete my work with interviewing local and municipal leadership as well as holding community focus groups.

Surely, there will be fun stories to share over this week...

a breath of fresh, contaminated air

"So is this what a bar in Puno is like?" The other Fulbright researchers from the provinces just laughed. Where or how to start to describe the differences? Alex, who probably dropped the fact that he went to Yale in every conversation he had during the week, was curious about what life was like outside the city of Lima. Most of the Fulbrighters agreed that he had not adapted very well to Peru living. The funny thing is that the idea of cultural adaptation is so relative. His complaints and frustrations of Lima seemed so trivial when I thought about the living conditions, politics, and conflicts I witnessed in Puno. Moreover, for all his negative commentary, he hardly had anything positive or good to say about his experience. I pittied him for not enjoying the past three months. Of course, we have all seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful in our respective regions in Peru. I get the sense, though, that the students who stayed in Lima were not as fulfilled or happy as those who lived in smaller communities throughout the country.

It was quite amazing, actually, how very little the Limeñan Fulbrights knew about the lifestyle outside of the capital. Don't get me wrong, the city of Lima is a totally different world, in comparison to the United States. But, it's really a buffer in terms of cultural differences for a foreigner. As we sat in the bar named Sergeant Peppers (or Sargento Pimienta) in the upper class district of Barranco, I looked at the clientel that surrounded me. To be honest, I felt like I was one among a multitude of tourists. Unlike in Puno, I wasn't the only light-skinned, blue-eyed youth in the room. We were definitely in a pituco bar. The term refers to the rich population of the capital city. Often, people from the provinces refer to the Limeñans, in general, as pitucos, though it primarily defines the population that live in the city's districts of Miraflores, La Molina, Sucro, Barranco, and a few others. For the first time in three months I felt underdressed....no, under-fashionable in a bar scene.

The week has been a refreshing break from Puno. On Monday and Tuesday, I had meetings with the top advisor of the National Council on Decentralization and worked at the library in the Catholic University of Peru. Wednesday was spent in a researcher's workshop to present our projects and get feedback from Peruvian scholars. Friday, I traveled to the US Embassy to have pages added to my passport (yup, I have travelled that much) and had a turkey feast with Embassy staff and Fulbrights. In between, I did some shopping, walked around the city, and got a much needed hair cut. All in all, a worthwhile trip.

It has definitely helped to gain a bit of perspective from the other Fulbrighters as well as share knowledge about Puno to people who are unfamiliar with its culture (I even taught people from Lima things about Puno they didn't know!) Additionally, I was able to enjoy some comforts that made me feel a bit closer to the States: hot showers, comfortable sofa-chairs in coffee shops, movie theaters, big-red gum, walking around shopping malls, political conversations over dinner with other researchers, big red gum, libraries, cable tv in my room, NFL sportsbar to watch Thanskgiving games, soy milk, mexican and sushi restaurants...

Still, Lima is neither where I belong nor what I love about Peru. I know from that list I make Puno sound like it is in the middle of nowhere. These are just little things that are not in my life in the highlands. On the flipside, there are things about Puno that I miss and really look forward to having once I return on Sunday: clean air, a sense of security on the streets and taxis, greeting people I know as I walk around town, great meals for 5 soles (average price for a meal in Lima's tourist district is 20-30 soles), my friends, not feeling under-dressed all the time, daily parades...

I just stopped a moment and took in what I wrote in the two paragraphs above. Almost all the little bonuses of Lima were materialistic in nature, whereas my pluses of Puno were more subjective and in reference to a sense of community. Maybe that's what I forgot to share with Alex from Yale :

The difference between a bar in Lima and a bar in Puno isn't based on the kind of drinks you have, the music they play, or the clothes people wear. The real difference is that, unlike in sprawling city of Lima (population 9 million) you have had the opportunity to insert yourself in the a community of a bar's clientel...where everybody knows your name (is the theme song ringing in anybody's head?)

I think the other province Fulbrights would agree.

Lima...take two and tasting much better

I am back in Lima! This time, I am here for a week event hosted by the Fulbright Commission. I will have to admit, I was not looking forward to coming to the coast. Last time I was here, I definitely had a foul taste in my mouth for the city. The past 24 hours, though, have been marvelous! The Fulbright has put me up in an extremely comfortable hostal in the calm district of Barranco. Having a nice room with an exceptionally chill atmosphere definitely makes a big difference.

Since I have arrived to sea-level (after 3 months up at 13,000ft) I feel like I could run a marathon. Its seriously an amazing feeling to take huge, deep breathes...and enjoy the smell of the ocean at the same time. Oh, that's the other thing! My current spot is right next to the coast and I have already enjoyed two long walks to Miraflores, looking off into the Pacific. Seeing the sun, and enjoying 70 degree weather makes quite a difference. My only complaint was that once I got to Miraflores, the Starbucks was having problems with their water filtration and I couldn't buy a drink. I know, I know...but come on! You think I can go for an entire year without a tall americano!??!!?

This morning I met with the top advisor of the National Council on Decentralization. Because the local elections just finished yesterday, he was a tad preoccupied and apologized for having to cancel our meeting. Granted, he still met with me for an hour and invited me to return later this week for a more formal interview. He's so great...definitely an old, liberal sociology professor stuck in the body of a political advisor.

I think the main activity this week will be hanging out in the Catholic University library. Of course, I will take a quick break on Friday to have turkey and gravy with the other Fulbrights and (I think) the US Ambassador.

OH, and I have to share the exciting news!!!!! I just found out from another Fulbrighter that we are being flown to Cartagena, Colombia in April for a conference with the Andean nation Fulbrights! How cool is that?!!?!?

In the land of swimming cows

I must apologize for having taken a bit of a break from sharing my stories on my blog. Things have been a bit crazy as my semester comes to an end. I have finished my internship with IDEA and sent in my thesis proposal for my professor at American University. I am headed off to La Paz on Thursday for a day trip and then I will be in Lima for the entire following week...having the Turkey Dinner with my fellow Fulbrights and the Ambassador of the US.

After next week, I will begin my interviews and field research at full force! I will be doing a LOT of traveling through the month of January, so please be patient with my entries. They will be spontaneous, but very interesting!

Of course, I need to share with you my weekend visit to the island of Anapia. This took place a few weeks ago, and I have taken forever to finish the entry....but here goes:

Last Thursday I traveled to the border of Peru and Bolivia to spend the weekend on the island of Anapia. Having worked on the child literacy program in conjunction with the director of a local island NGO, I took up his invitation to visit his home.

After a trip that included 2 hours, in a bumpy combi , 3 hours waiting in the market of the town of Yunguyo (and getting pretty unfriendly stares from the women of the city), another half hour bumpy ride and a sloooooow 2 hour boat trip on the village communal boat (with a bag of something that smelled REALLY nasty right in front of me), I arrived to Anapia. To my surprise, my contact, Jose was not waiting for me on the dock. A young girl from the community took me to his house, but it was empty. Turns out, he was still in his chacra (farming field) planting potatoes. The town was empty as everyone was working on the fields. As the sun was setting, I wasn't sure what to do or where to go.

Luckily, the children in the community were very friendly, and one invited me to wait in his home until Jose returned. As it turned out, I was suppose to be greeted by my weekend hostess, Maritza...she had just turned up a bit too late to the dock. Her home was GORGEOUS! The guest room was even more comfortable than my home in Puno. To my suprise, unlike the island of Amantani, there was electricity, running water, toilets, and even a hot shower!

I was truly blown away by the organization, cleanliness, and calm of the community. They have not been overwhelmed by the tourism experience, but instead have prepared and adapted to the presence of small groups of visitors. I was invited to create my own schedule for the weekend...basically I could do whatever I wanted!

So....on Friday, I went with my host, Hidilago, to attend his third grade class at the local school. We had discussed over dinner the previous night the work I had done in Amantani as well as at Concordia. To my surprise, I was invited to teach the class! It was really fun! We did math, reading, and spelling activities. The kids taught me some songs and I shared games and songs from camp with them. They were full of very intruiging questions like, "Why do you write with your left hand?" and "Why does the snow fall in Minnesota?" If anyone has those answers...please let me know because I did my darnest trying to figure out how to explain them!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Saturday, Maritza and I walked to the other side of the island, jumped in one of her friend's row boats, and went to the neighboring island, Yuspiqui. While the community lives in Anapia, they maintain their farming fields in Yuspiqui. I had arrived just in time for the potato planting season. We arrived at Jose's chacra where his wife, son, and daughter were working the land. Maritza and I joined them, breaking the soil and prepping the seeds.

Anapians don't use any chemicals to prep their seeds. They go the natural route....using NATURAL fertilzer. In a bucket, Jose's wife had a lovely mix of vicuña (a wild cousin of the llama) poo and pee. They cover the potatoes with the vicuña salsa (hahaha) and let it sit out in the sun.

After prepping the potatos we had lunch (I swear I doused my hands in that sanitizer lotion). Lunch was a blanket full of boiled potatoes, chuño, and fried eggs. Maritza, worried about my Westerness, had brought everything except the kitchen sink....silverware, plates, the salt shaker, and even the tea cups and saucers. In the end, though, we ate just like Jose's family...picking at the potatoes with our hands. Lunch was finished off with a cup of tea and chewing some coca leaves. Jose taught me how to bless the potatoes "so that they will grow bigger than my head" and thank the Pachamama (Mother Earth) for her help in their fields.

With the help of two oxen, we finished planting the potatoes in the fields. I was in charge of dropping the potato seeds into the open earth. They instructed me to place each potato a foot-length apart. In reality, I had to place them about a half a foot-length apart...my feet are a bit longer than that of the women in the island.

Once we had finished dropping the poo covered potatoes into the ground, Maritza and I took off in search of a ride home to Anapia. We finally found one boat that was about to depart. They asked us to meet them about a half mile down the island where their cows were waiting for them. Cows waiting? Alright....I hope you are ready for this:

One of the boat's passangers helped us onto the boat and then began pushing the cows towards the water. That's right, cow's swim. The two hephers were great swimmers, nor did they seem too happy. Their bellies floated about the rest of their bulk and their eyes scanned wildly. I felt really bad for them, and to be honest was a bit worried they would tip the boat! Still, they made the 20 minute swim to Anapia. So now I think I know the true way to make ice cream (yuck, yuck!)