June 27th and I go for a run

      Since the half marathon on the sixth of June I had not been for a run. This was strange to me as I had spent almost the entire months of April and May running every single day in preparation for the half marathon. The main reason is that Ayacucho isn't exactly the most inviting city to go running in. Between the thick smog that always blankets the houses, to the crazy streets, packed with cars and mottotaxis, and only sometimes having a sidewalk, to all the stray dogs and guard dogs that bark and chase you. But today Alison and I put all these fears aside and went for it.
      The 7:30 city was already bustling, the air was filled with the upturned dust from the half paved roads and smoke from the wood ovens that were making the morning's bread. The air was harsh on our lungs, and trying to catch our breath we ran down our road until we came to a bridge that carried the traffic over the trash filled river. Uziel had warned us that this bridge was a magnet for the homeless and drug addicted people who made their homes beneath it. We cautiously crossed but it wasn't people but guard dogs that jumped out and started chasing us up the road. The huge scary dogs were much faster than us and we ended up leaping across a huge ditch on one side of the road and clinging to the side of a rocky cliff for a few minutes until they finally lost interest. With all that adrenaline it was pretty easy to run the rest of the way up the steep hill and we ended up on a more populated road. The sidewalks were packed, and we had to weave in and out of people, goods, and live animals. The cat calling was particularly bad too in our running tights and shirts, and made us pretty uncomfortable, which I was annoyed at myself for feeling because that's what they wanted. After three accidental detours we eventually found the cobblestone road that lead back to our house and I was so happy to be home! Definitely more than we bargained for!

At work today in INABIF I was assigned the task of teaching Roberto to read. He is seven years old and I was shocked to find out that he didn't know how to read. When I inquired as to why, I learnt that he didn't go to school. Many kids bully him for this, teasing him, excluding him, and taking his things. A lot of the kids started telling me how lazy and bad he was for not going, and told me that he did have the option of attending a state sponsored school for street kids like him (he's also an orphan) but it's a tough, militaristic place that requires the children to give up all of their freedoms and become very disciplined and well behaved. For me it didn't seem as obvious that Roberto was a bad kid for not going, for someone who has only ever been able to do what he wants, to give up all of his freedom and suddenly live a life that's the complete opposite of everything he's known, especially when he doesn't have the help or guidance of parents seems very difficult. It's also hard because the older he becomes the more used to his life he is and the less he is likely to change. He already had no interest in learning to read or write and it was really hard to keep him focused. I can't help thinking that without education, opportunities in the future for this sweetest kid are dim.
   

                                                               Alison, Karen and me

The kids always want me to take their picture with Alison. This girl did an amazing french braid in Alison's hair.

       After we got off work, there was a guy waiting for us outside our workplace! It was Jose, the guy that we'd met three weeks ago when he stopped on his motorcycle to ask us if we were volunteers and how he could become a volunteer too. Apparently he'd spent the entire time in between trying to track us down which took both Alison and I aback. He had been to our house, and tried to get a job at INABIF all because he wanted to practice his English with us. Alison and I were reminded of our superstar status, everyone here wants to be friends with us, and we are constantly getting invited to people's houses or out for meals, but no one has gone to this length before just to contact us. It's a strange for me and Alison, we don't feel that we have as much to offer as people seem to think.

                           We met up with Uziel at his job in a local private school, and Jose came                                                 along too. Uziel was rehearsing the same play, street kids, but with older
                                                                               students.

 We went to get tea with Jose and found out that he will be going to 

Texas next year and is very nervous about his English. I thought he

was very good at English.

The main cathedral is beautiful at night!

       After all of that, we went back to Mono Sazon and helped the extended family shuck peas and then ate a small dinner of sausages and coffee with them before walking back to the house pretty late. On the way back we had a very interesting conversation with Katia and Uziel about the role of Catholicism in Peruvian culture and how it's relationship with the scientific community. Both Katia and Uziel were raised catholic, but Uziel has since stopped believing in God. He told me he's agnostic now, somewhere in the middle, some people are religious fanatics and others extreme scientists, and while both are very different both have very closed points of view. He thinks that both faith and science can be used to explain the world, and that it's better to have something to believe in rather than the terrifying unknown. I'm inclined to agree with him.

Sunday June 26th and I go to the upper barios

The morning was spent doing chores around the house, and somehow the monotony of the tasks made me feel like a real part of the family. I thought that doing laundry by hand would be awful, but it turns out to be fun. It's a great chance to talk and laugh with the others, and there isn't a better view than from our rooftop.

Then we made a salad for lunch, and I tried to help but failed miserably. It turns out you can't eat the peels of vegetables here because they could make you sick, but I only discovered this after I'd sliced and diced a whole cucumber and it took some time to fix the mistake.

                                                        Alison excited about a lettuce.

          After lunch Katia and Uziel were going to volunteer with an organization that brings together art instructors with kids who live high up in the upper barrios, where poverty is most desperate and give them free arts classes.
         Uziel is a theater teacher and is teaching his group of kids a play called street kids which sounds depressing, but is actually about the hopes, dreams and imagination of the kids and is really good.
         It's hard to make progress though because each time different kids keep showing up, and when Uziel tries to teach them they are very shy and never volunteer. It must be hard to have the self confidence needed to want to be an actor when so much else in your life is hard. These kids have to worry about the basics, shelter, food and water, and so art and acting is outside the norm for them, and for most of them this is their first experience acting.  can see why Uziel and the organization do the class, it teaches the kids how to express themselves in a new way and broadens their horizons on what they can do and achieve. At the end of the July there will be a competition with all the other plays from different neighborhoods, including the one that Katia and Alison are rehearsing.

                                                   It's an alpaca!!!! I saw an alpaca!

                                             The community center where we worked.

Uziel teaching the kids. There was also one kid, Antonio, who he was teaching to use stilts (you can see him in the background). Apparently when Uziel was a teen he used to make money in the summers by performing on stilts, who would have guessed!

                              The barrio after dark. Uziel told me it's a different reality here.

              The only way to get to these remote neighborhoods is to ride the rickety buses. This is absolutely the worst, and I have discovered I hate them. There are so many people on each bus that you can barely move, and I usually find myself barely holding on to anything to keep me stable as the bus speeds down the busy roads, careening around corners and not slowing down for bumps. Through all of this, I can't actually see what's happening because I'm to tall to see out the windows, and usually there's a layer of people around me anyway, so I can't prepare myself for any of the ways in which I'm thrown about and it's all I can do not to go flying into surrounding people.

             After work me and Uziel took the bus and then walked back to the restaurant. Uziel had to stop outside of every single restaurant because the one hundredth COPA America final (soccer) was on and it was Argentina vs. Chile. The streets were silent and everyone was packed into the restaurants watching excitedly.
        Along with the game there was a fancy dinner at Mono Sazon for all the people that had worked on the fair, the one that Katia & Uziel (or as I have now dubbed them KUte) had performed their play in. The dinner not surprisingly consisted of chicken, potatoes, and rice, which seem to be about the only thing people eat here. There must be a small chicken genocide by this point just for my meals. Everyone gave speeches about how much they enjoyed the fair and thanked different people which I thought was so nice, and exemplified the friendly, community culture in Peru, something we could work towards in the U.S.
         In the COPA America final, not one but two players injured themselves on the same gol post, and then it went to penalty shootouts after a 0-0 draw and star player Messi missed making Chile the winners. I cannot describe the reaction to Messi missing in the restaurant it was so crazy.

Saturday June 25th

We didn't wake up until about 10 this morning and after a light breakfast where Uziel and I had a passionate discussion about whether New Zealand or Peru was a better country, we went out to a BBQ hosted by one of Uziel's friends, Carlos (who we had met at the rock concert). However, we discovered that the BBQ was not at 11 as planned, because the meat had not arrived. Instead it would be at 4 which meant we could not go because Joyce's flight was at 5, and Katia and Uziel could not go as they had to work.

The Mirador (white building), high above Ayacucho

Why are all the posters here of white people?

We went to the restaurant for lunch and were treated to a real delicacy, a river fish that comes with the head and all on your plate! Katia grossed us out by eating the eyes! Alison tried to eat one but spat it out on the floor - yikes!

We ate a whole fish, Katia ate the eyes!

Last meal as a family

Joyce had to go and pack but Katia and Uziel were off to work so had to say goodbye! Joyce started to cry, and everyone started to cry and it was awful. Even though we've only known each other for three weeks we've barely spent three hours apart and we've all come to rely on each other so much.

Bye Joyce

As a final act Joyce threw her old white Vans over a telephone wire. Seriously, that  is actually really hard to do! We spent about 15 minutes trying and failing.

We got to the airport about an hour and half early which was way too long for the one counter airport. After five minutes she had checked in and all that was left was to had to pass by the one security worker to the one waiting lounge. Instead we went upstairs to the one coffee shop. Joyce got a cookie, Alison tea, and I got a coffee.

We managed not to cry until we were standing at the security gate but then Alison began to cry, and then Joyce, and then even I was crying. Just as Joyce went past the security worker, her Spanish teacher showed up, flushed from rushing. They could only wave goodbye through the window - will they ever see each other again?

Us and Ana-Luisa, Joyce's tutor

We went upstairs and watched Joyce board the plane. The music in the airport was literally the saddest music ever which was awful! What are we going to do without Joyce? We also talked to the Spanish teacher who will miss Joyce too. She told us she sometimes volunteers to visit remote villages to bring supplies to them, and some of them speak only Quetua - so cool!

We headed back on the bus with heavy hearts and recognition of the growing distance between us and Joyce. Now we can't stop noticing, and dreading, how close Alison and I are to leaving ourselves.

Friday June 24

Today I woke up pretty late and by the time I had eaten breakfast and gotten ready it was basically time to go but I decided to take a quick shower too. To make it even faster I didn't bother boiling any water and braved the antarctic waters. The worst part was getting in but after that it wasn't terrible. The bathroom is also not at all private but Uziel did make a shower curtain yesterday which makes me feel a little better.

Took out the braids from yesterday ah!

Sausage or solidified cough syrup? They're the same color...

We went to INABIF, arriving late as always. Today some girls showed us a game they had come up with using a large piece of rope. It's basically like Chinese jump rope except that instead of only having the rope around your feet you slowly move it up to your knees, waist, shoulders, neck, head, and then hold it above your head. At first you have to jump in and out of the ropes, then swing your legs up to catch them rhythmically, then use your mouth to weave over and under them, and then use your arms to go in and out clapping. It's amazing how inventive kids are, they really don't need fancy toys they can have fun with just about anything! There was also a seminar on drugs which is apparently a problem here.

We play some ridiculously hard jumping string game - it's amazing what kids can come up with with just some string

Last night Alison and I helped Uziel make colorful flags on a string for an event today. It had been hard work as there were ten giant sheets of plastic that we had to fold, cut, and staple onto strings. We did so many that my arm is actually sore from stapling. It was fun though as we got to sit and talk while doing it.

Putting up our handmade banderas

Today after INABIF we walked two doors down to the Ministry of Culture where we helped string the banners in preparation for an arts fair Uziel would be taking part in. Stringing them up I was reminded of how tall I am here as I could reach a lot of the places the others couldn't. It's weird being this tall, I feel like people are a little intimidated by me - especially the guys - and I feel a little awkward and strange as well. It's going to be weird to go back to America and be normal-sized again too though!

Uziel showed up and we all went to lunch together. He showed us where he grew up in Lima and I ate much I thought I would die of a stomach explosion but felt I couldn't be rude and not eat the food again!

We were late to INABIF of course. I helped one kid with his math homework but he was a really difficult kid to teach, not willing to think through the problem and just waiting for you to do it for him.

We left INABIF late and went to the Ministry of Culture where the fair was about to begin. It was in a long, narrow plaza and there was a tent for food and plastic chairs in a circle around an area designated as the stage, with a big white screen behind it. There was also a botanic cactus garden behind the tent that Alison and I had checked out at lunch. There are lots of different kinds of cactus - who knew?!

Alison gets dwarfed by a cactus

And another one

So many types

While we were exploring the garden two kids from INABIF squeezed through the thin fence and Melany fell into a cactus! We spent a long time trying to get the spikes out of her jacket with marginal success. They also showed us how to pick the fruit of one cactus, which was incredibly sour, and also how you could throw the seeds of another cactus, that looked more like a tree, up into it's tangle of branches and watch as it bounced around, like the game at our local mini-golf where you put a ball in at the top and it bounces down off an array of pegs until maybe it goes into a hole at the bottom, but usually not.

Some kids from INABIF climbed through the fence and showed us around

They showed us how to eat the purple things

Cactus without spines

Melany fell into a cactus! Yikes!

You can throw the seeds of this cactus into its branches and they'll rattle around and pop out somewhere random!

At the fair, Jose, from two weeks ago on the motorcycle, came up to us. Seriously, he's been trying to find us for two weeks! He even went to our other house but apparently Rudy yelled at him - yikes! Jose said he wanted to practice his English, and that he grew up in Lima. He told us he is 18, though he hadn't wanted to tell us how young he was at first as he thought we were much older. Everyone here thinks we are older because of our height. Then he told us he was born in 1996 and we told him he couldn't be 18 then! He looked confused then realised he was 19 but hadn't celebrated his last birthday. Seriously, how can you not know how old you are? Especially if you're only 19!

The fair

The show began with a puppet show act which Alison and I thought was Katia and Uziel's act until we saw them walk in - whoops! In fact, their act turned out to be more like a play with only three people. It was a version of Little Red Riding Hood and was really good even though the only props were a chair, a basket, and a sock! At the end of the show were some short films like an animated short about the Bolivian water crisis.

The performance - Katia and another girl

After the festival we went to meet up with Joyce and her Spanish teacher for a farewell dinner - her flight out is tomorrow! We went to a restaurant called El Nino which does barbequed meat. It was good but a lot of meat for me. The Spanish teacher and her boyfriend were the total opposite of Katia and Uziel - tall and skinny they both got fruit salads and talked quietly, while Katia and Uziel (both short and stocky) got chicken and fries and spent most of the time laughing and joking.

After dinner the two couple and us three musketeers went to find a discoteca. The first place we tried was completely deserted, it was only 10pm and here the party doesn't start until 1. The second place, which you supposedly had to pay to get in but they let us in free based on our superstar gringo status, was also kind of slow so we forked out three soles to get into HOT, the discoteca we had scouted out with Nicole weeks earlier. The girls didn't pay to get in - sweet! I really enjoy the Latin music and the dancing and we ended up dancing with two of Uziel's friends - my guy was shorter than me!

Thursday June 23

Alison and I decided to go to INABIF this morning as well as this afternoon. I am definitely on the mend and had a full breakfast of bread, cheese, and yoghurt. We talked to Uziel a little about politics - he does not like monopolies, and apparently Peru fought on the right side in WWII! I find my Spanish is great for the day-to-day stuff but if I start needing a deeper level of meaning and comprehension I'm really shaky! I was trying to explain New Zealand's role in WWII and it's relationship to the Queen - both tricky topics.

The kids love Alison

There are far less children at INABIF in the morning and we spent a lot of time playing with Roberto and I even tried to get him to read a little bit. He seemed to kind of get it which was encouraging but his attention span is non-existent. Studying and learning are skills you have to work hard to acquire and without proper support and education society dooms kids like Roberto to never getting the level of proficiency required for an adequate job. Instead he is destined to not dream, and take some low level job. It's heartbreaking to think it might already be too late for him, once kids become accustomed to the freedom and easy lifestyle of the streets compared to school it's hard to convince them that they should give it all up for some dream. I feel that education must be what fuels ambition and dreams.

We ate lunch at the restaurant with Joyce and I feel that we haven't been finishing the food there very often and that it was important to do so this time. I stuffed myself to the point of throwing up but still could not get the last few bites down. Seriously, how do people here eat this much??

Back at INABIF (by mototaxi since we could barely move after eating so much) and lots of girls were braiding hair this afternoon. Alison and I joined them, the kids really like braiding Alison's blonde hair! I learned how to do one style where you braid the hair normally but then slide two strands up over the third until they're scrunched at the top. Pretty cool!

Today's hairstyle thanks to the INABIF salon

Max asked me to bring him something from the US when I come back and I tried to pretend I didn't have my phone as it was already low on battery from the morning, but Max saw right through that, pointing at my pocket and saying "Yes you do". So I had to give it to him - that kid is so smart! Also kids are soooo fascinated by our phones here, all day long it's "Presto me tu cellular!" Mostly they use snapchat which has fun filters like dog ears or devil eyes that you can put on yourself. Another popular feature is face swap.

After work Alison and I walked back to the restaurant to meet Katia. Katia suggested we go to the big white cross and arches that overlook the city. We walked quite a way, then took a mototaxi the rest of the way. The arches were amazing and as the sun set Alison and I took some amazing pictures in the arches. We all admired the sheer size of Ayacucho and tried to pick out our tiny house from the thousands of little dots.

Sidewalks?

View from the Mirador

The Mirador

While we were up there another guy started talking to us in English! People LOVE talking to us even if they only know the most basic English. His name is Luis and he a college student from Lima studying tourism. For this he had lived many months in the US, in Boston, California, and had also travelled around to Las Vegas and other cities. Not a bad degree to take when your homework is to travel around and be a tourist! We also laughed a lot about how hard it is to learn a language. He can't say beach without it sounding like bitch and we can't say perro or carro right. We also laughed about how everyone wants us to translate the most random objects into the other language.

Ayacucho

Uziel arrived and we walked around a little more before heading back. We couldn't find a bus so started walking but it was a cold night, and then the bus passed us without stopping! We all ran after it down the steep street and caught it at the next corner. We all crammed into the already overstuffed bus and headed home. The sun sets at about 5:30 so it was already dark as it was after 7pm.

At the plaza another party was going on, again for a school. All the students were out in the street and dancing and there were fireworks as well as a person running around with a bull-shaped firework framework on his head, chasing after people with exploding fireworks!

Three against one and we still lost!

Alison and I ran to check it out and it was awesome, but when we came back Katia and Uziel were gone! It was like when you are little and you lose your parents! Alison and I waited for a while in the place we last saw them, then headed back to the restaurant - our next planned meeting spot. They weren't there either! So we sat on the stoop for some minutes feeling very alone and sad before we walked to the corner and saw them walking up! We hugged and went back to the restaurant which Uziel unlocked so we saw the whole family. We didn't stay long though as we still had our dinner to cook and we had learned how long that took with two burners!

This time we had the routine down and even added breadcrumbs to the patties (well, crushed saltines which aren't quite the same....) which we had forgotten last time. The meal was good and everyone enjoyed it.

Wednesday June 22

My stomach situation did not get better and in the middle of the night I had to go to the bathroom. However, our room is detached from the main house which is locked, so I would have to wake Katia and Uziel up to let me in. I got up but I found the two guard dogs sleeping right outside our room and they went crazy when I opened the door! Seriously those dogs are terrifying! I dithered for a long time in the hallway and then dashed to the next room down the hall. There, I climbed out the window, landed on a bench and ninja-hopped my way along, over things on the bench until I reached the door. As I re-traced my route I hoped I did not have to do that again!

I did not sleep much and by the morning was exhausted and overwhelmed by everything. I washed out my clothes and took them to the roof to dry but then sat there for about an hour feeling sad and alone, and summoning the energy to go back downstairs.

I could not eat any breakfast but Alison and I played a couple of games of chess against Uziel. We lost the first game but won the second! Although Uziel was going easy on us and even sacrificed his queen to make it more interesting!

Alison and I had decided not to go to the school this morning, but were hoping to pick up a morning shift at INABIF which started at 10am. By 9 I was starting to feel better and at 9:30 I even tried to eat a piece of bread with caramel spread - but that really upset my stomach.

I decided I would still go but as we began the long walk up the hill to the Plaza my condition took a steep dive and I could barely make it to the pharmacy where I bought a bottle of electrolyte drink you are supposed to drink over 24 hours to soothe your stomach.

While we were walking, a guy came up and started asking us questions in English! We (mostly Alison) chatted for a while and he told us he is an English major. He seemed OK but I was not feeling chatty. At the end he asked for our numbers and we flat-out refused. We don't have numbers and we don't know where we live!

At home I slept for two or three hours before waking up in time for lunch. Mama Dorris had prepared a special chicken and noodle soup for us poor sicklings. I managed to eat mine but Alison did not. She does not have the same symptoms as I do, but has waves of nausea.

A chicken foot! Joyce says white people dont eat anything but what's there to eat? It wasn't that bad (tastes like chicken!) but later we found out we WERENT supposed to eat it! Ah!

After lunch Alison went home and Joyce and I went to INABIF. I taught English to one of the kids and played with others. Someone called Roberto and ugly monkey and I was gobsmacked - how can such an innocent young child be so cruel? Roberto's hands are getting better as he has been putting vaseline on them at night, which is awesome.

For dinner Uziel made a gingery, starchy, citrus sludge which is usually a dessert but tonight was main course for us of poor health. It was pretty good!

After dinner we played poker for my starbursts. I did not do well and lost all my cash twice, while Joyce won so much she started to eat her money, but it was Alison who pulled out a surprise win at the end. When the candy started to be eaten I made the wrappers into cranes. It was really fun, but we missed Katia who was working and couldn't play - her job is very stressful!