Alpaca Attacka: October 2009

It’s a normal trip on the late bus Sunday night heading to Chiclayo. The bus is rather empty, I have an entire seat bench to myself. It’s amazing. My hiking bag full of clothes and work stuff for a meeting in Tumbes is perched on the bench beside me, I’m listening to my iPod and eating my baggie of dinner my host mom sent me with (a potato and tuna) just basking in the seat all to myself. It’s rare to have that much space on public transportation, let along transportation from my site…

I should have known it wouldn’t last. We pull into Oyotun, the city closest to Nanchoc, all of a 30 minute drive. We were met by the Peruvian National Police with very large weapons (They pack heat during parties), they checked our identifications and then we were on our way to the plaza to pick up more people. Next thing I know we’ve managed to squeeze at least 15 other passengers on this bus, putting the head count well above the maximum capacity (or so I thought) of 25. My bag has now been moved to my lap, there is a drunk guy who REEKES of bad Peruvian beer squishing me against the window. We are still trying to figure out how we’re going to fit all of these people on the bus. Kids are sitting on towels on the floor between the aisles, there are 4 grown men sitting 2 and 2 (2 in the laps of the other 2) in the front seat with the driver-- which has left the driver’s wife and 1 year 8 month old daughter seat less. Since my seat was the first one by the door, to accommodate the long gringa legs that I have, of course I was the most likely to be chosen to hold Angie (the baby). Not to mention that I’m the only one in the front of the bus within handing distance that Angie knows. So now I have the hiking bag in my lap, a baby against my chest, a drunk half asleep/squishing me into the window, and 3 drunks sitting in the doorway, one using my knee as an armrest. I shouldn’t have jinxed the empty bus by being happy.

So 1 hour later everyone that is touching me is now drooling…on me. Now I’m ok with a baby drooling on me, especially when it’s a cute baby, but the grown adults, not so cool. The cutest part of this story, other than Angie of course, is that everyone assumed that she was my child. Angie’s mother is very light skinned and has light hair, thusly the baby has a very gringa-like features—which lead to such confusion. So after a long while, long enough for me to completely loose all feeling in BOTH my arms, Angie begins to cry. Then all the women on the bus get really confused as to why I start looking around the bus. Then I explain that the baby that is in fact in my arms is not mine, and if they can see the driver’s wife behind the wall of drunks to get her attention (yeah it’s that loud on my bus that you can’t hear the baby cry). Next thing I know I’d trying to figure out how to lift Angie without dropping her, due to my arms being asleep. After a few seconds of contemplation, finally I manage to lift her over the wall of drooling drunks and into the safety of her mom’s arm and she stops crying.

Now if I could have only gotten the drunk off my shoulder and the other one off my shoe the bus trip would have almost returned to normal. But then 30 minutes later Angie is back in my arms as her mom is collecting money from all of the passengers. And I got a 50% discount for my babysitting duties. All and all, not too bad of a bus ride into town…I could do without the drunks if it happens again.

This is Angie:

First day of Peace Corps: Sept. 10, 2008

First day in Peru: Sept. 12, 2008

First day of official service: Nov. 28, 2008

First day in site: Dec. 1, 2008

Cell phones lost: NONE! Dern, I just jinxed myself didn’t I?

Books read: 6 finished, 3 started (one’s in Spanish). And for a non-reader that’s a lot.

Favorite book read: I Was Told There’d Be Cake, Sloane Crossley, best book ever for the non-reader

Most days gone without showering: 6, 4 days of the Inca Trail + transportation strikes + spending a night in a train station + arriving in Cusco at 3am and being too tired to shower. Yeah I smelled

Guilty pleasure: eating chocolate and watching Grey’s Anatomy

Favorite Peruvian Culture: “Invitar”ing people to food. Whatever you are eating, you always share (invite) with everyone around you. Eats up a bag of cookies really fast, but makes you feel great afterwards.

Debit cards lost: 1, but it totally doesn’t count, the machine ate it. Not my fault.

Worst habit acquired: putting too much sugar in my hot drinks (tea, chocolate) I’m working on that.

Best thing received in the mail: It’s a tie between 205 toothbrushes from my high school for a project and anything and everything chocolate that arrives.

Why you love your site: The people have amazingly beautiful hearts who have genuinely accepted me into their community and I am honestly sad that a whole year has passed this fast.

The best compliment you’ve received in Peru: “Look, it’s a girl from Argentina! They’re so tall in Argentina!” Yeah, when I don’t talk they think I’m Argentinean and not American. Beat that.

Favorite Peruvian Dish: Aji de Gallina. Yummy spicy chicken goodness.

Most terrifying creature found in your room: a scorpion! Then there was the snake, rat, and the neighbor’s crazy cat.

First place you go in your capital city: Plaza Vea (Peruvian walmart if you will)

First person you call on your cell phone: it rotates between Erica L., Robyn,Sarah Walker, or Kate. I’d die in this country without them.

First person you Skype: Mom and Dad

Most useful item brought with you: My hiking bag

Most useless: All that business casual wear. WTF Peace Corps?

Question you are asked daily: “Why are you so red?” and “te enseñas?” (are you used to it here yet?)

Funniest thing said by a Peruvian child: “dude, you have a TON of mosquito bites,” in reference the pimples the Peace Corps issued sunscreen gives me. I hate you NoAd
Weirdest Health Problem: oh, just the usual day long bathroom hugging experiences and some gastritis.

Projects Started: 7

Projects still working on: 3, what can I say? My town’s real big on starting projects…just not on finishing them. Which helps explain the half constructed bathroom at the school…

Worst over-generalization about the United States made by a Peruvian: They think we only eat canned and microwaveable food, and I’m not talking about convenient canned veggies or the occasional popcorn, they think meals come in cans ready to serve...that just sounds un-tasty and freeze dried.

Favorite pastime in site: playing soccer with the little boys showing them that girls can do anything they can do…and better (let’s ignore the fact that I’m like 10 years older than most of them, I’m a gimp. That evens the playing field)

Favorite past time in the city: finding any movie on cable in English and eating yogurt (we don’t have dairy products in my site) with cereal…yes I’m a dork

Most important self-realization made: I’m way stronger than I thought I was
Best quality learned: The ability to laugh at myself when I completely mess up—be it saying a word wrong or falling flat on my face, I’ve done both more times than I care to admit.

Best purchase in Peru: market bags, amazing woven colorful plastic wonders, no trip to the market could be completed without them. Oh and a yoga mat I use as much for yoga as for taking naps on really hot days when the bed is just not an option.

Coolest thing learned: You can actually grow a tomato in a 3Lt Pepsi bottle hanging upside down just like in the info-mercials, ‘cept I’m not paying $19.99 for some pretty container.

Places visited: Lima (duh), Piura, Cusco and surrounding areas, Machu Picchu, Sipan, and it’s now apparent I need to do more traveling. That’s a sad list.

Favorite place in site: On the trail to Palto (one of my caserios) there is an overlook of the entire valley from a water tank. A sunset at that tank is breathtaking. The hike to get there ain’t half bad either.

Favorite place in Peru: The 3rd night of the Inca Trail. The campsite is above the cloud line so you can watch the sun set below you and see every single star in the Milky Way at night.

Peace Corps in one word, go: Liable.

One thing you’ll never get used to: that it’s perfectly normal to cut in line here…except when in line to buy soccer tickets.

People at site stare the hardest when: I eat raw veggies. They call me the bunny rabbit.

Greatest lengths taken for cell phone reception: one cloudy day my cell phone still didn’t have reception from the rock I usually stand on 1.5 hours from my site, so I climbed up higher (biiiiig mistake) and almost died when a snake (the poisonous kind) scared the begeezes out of me. Never again.

Your site’s Favorite American dish: Pancakes and carrot cake. Not together…but that’s a good idea.

Strangest thing eaten: a soup made from goat guts and brain/skull boiled to death and served with corn. Or possibly the internal part melody served with veggies (liver, lungs, heart, intestines, so on)…strange.

Why we live half way around the world for nest to no pay for 2 years with crap bathrooms: To see that one little kid with the black teeth start brushing them every day because he wants to have teeth that are white like the gringa.

What we can (hardly) wait to return to in the USA: Toilets that I can flush the toilet paper in, Pork BBQ with VINAGER sauce—none of that tomato mess, my bed, my family and my dog, a sandwich loaded down with peanut butter because I no longer have to ration it out, huge salads, being average height again, playing field hockey and lacrosse, sandwiches (yes I meant to say that twice), and last but certainly not least: hearing English every day.

Photo best ofs:

Favorite moment captured: