Thursday came quickly, and in all honesty all i could think about was the soccer game that was lined up for that night at 6. But 4 hours of spanish class, and 4 hours of finishing the previously described group project was between me and what i desired. The day passed quickly. We didn't have to do much for our project because we had gathered so much info already. Soon enough it was 5:30 and i was off to the field!
However, it didn't go quite as planned. Once again, the host father of another volunteer had reserved the field for 6, which we all waited patiently for, however, we didnt' get to play until 7:30. This is because they had a "conflict" of scheduling and they were currently having a round-robin for an adult league. That basically means that they just don't give a flying f**k because we are gringos and not very important. To so of you this might be a bit offensive or quick judgement. You may be right, however, i have already dealt with the blatant discrimination against gringos on several occasions: see Combi fares. I'm not saying they aren't entitled to try to take advantage of those that are willingly fooled, but i've pretty much had it with the "taking advantage" of gringos look at life. So we didnt' get out on the field until 7:30 and were only able to play until 8, yet we had to pay for a whole hours worth of play. So we all decided that this was not a place that we wanted to return to anymore.
Friday morning brought a new day, and we were to present our projects to the rest of our fellow volunteers. I had draw several comics about some of the funny things that we in Yanacoto put up with on our poster: the crazy dogs chasing us, the mototaxis almost running us over, etc. I got a lot of recognition for these drawings. I kinda get embarrassed when people talk to me about my art, but it was also nice of them to tell me that they really liked it.
Soon after our presentations we left for a mass exodus to Lima. I slept most of the way. We arrived and waited around in the main plaza for a few minutes while we got organized into our spanish groups. We then had lunch in our respective groups, and did a couple of group activities, which like always, meant that we had to go up to random people and ask them questions about the local buildings, etc.
Both Intermediate High spanish classes (8 students in total) walked to a local market place. We were given 20 minutes to just walk around. The upper floor, where we went first, unfortunately is right about the oh-so sanitary meat market, so many of us almost vomited in our mouths several times. after that fun experiences we got in taxis and headed to Miras Flores, an area right on the coast. We got some coffee and churros, and then headed to see the view of the beach. The sky was very much like oregon, gray and cloudy. I felt right at home, while others complained about it being to cold. he place that we ended up at, overlooking the ocean from a high vista, reminded me very much of a trendy outside mall that you might find in So Cal. After a little bit we were set loose to get back home on our own. Chris, Pete, and I planned on getting a beer with basically the rest of the whole group, but after an hour of the "who's going were" game, we decided it would be better to get back in time for dinner with our families. Big mistake.
If it is one thing i can recommend to anyone wishing to travel in Lima, it would be to not use public transportation during rush hour. We got on a combi (the one to take us to the actual on that would take us back home), which was really crowded. This wasn't unusual, but that fact that it took 45 minutes in stop and go traffic wasn't great. Oh but we knew so little of what awaited us. After getting off the combi, and taking directions from several different people, we finally got onto the combi that was in route to Chosica ( and thus Yanacoto). About 10 minutes into the ride the combi basically stops moving at any real speed (meaning that i could get out and walk faster than it). The driver puts on the emergency lights and slowly putts along the right side of the road. All the while the cabin is being filled with the black smoke that is flowing from the exhaust pipe. This goes on for about 20 minutes, and people started to demand their money back and to get off. Some do, but most stay, and the bus finally kicks back into gear.
An hour later, still standing, cramped next to the smelly guys and the guy that kinda looks like he could shank me at any moment, the bus decides that it was a lot of fun putting along at 5 miles per hour, so it does it again. This time it goes for about another 30 minutes. Fun times on a combi! After we've been on the combi for about an hour and a half, it starts to thin out with people. However, because my mother always insisted on me being a gentleman, i always gave any open seat to children, women, and anyone older than me (which when you are only 23 means the majority of people). So by hour two of standing on the moving stink-box, i would basically scream internally everytime a new batch of women would get on the bus. About the time we arrived to Chaclacayo ( 15 miuntes before my stop), i finally got to sit down! Oh how great it was! Like i had never sat before! As always, the giant hill awaited our arrival patiently :) In all our trip from Lima to home took around 3:30. Some people that didn't leave for several hours after us took similar means of transportation and arrived in 1 hour... I've learned my lesson.
Saturday the water group met up at the center to construct hanging worm composting bins, and we also poured the first slab of concrete for our permanent worm-composting bin. This was a lot of nice, hands on work, that most of us had been longing for. The only complaint from people was that this work come on a saturday morning. That afternoon, after eating a nice lunch, i napped for several hours.
That night, many of us (most of our group) eventually met up at a dance club, where we proceeded to amaze the peruvians with our gringo-ness. It was a really great time, and i think our saturday nights are really necessary to blow off much of the steam that is built up over the week.
Today i got up and did laundry with my hostbro Carlos. Then we went into Chosica, were we took his ex and her children to what is basically the peruvian long-john-silvers. well maybe not that bad, but it really did resemble an american eatery that has way too much nautical stuff on the walls. The kids are really great, and are calling me uncle already. After that Carlos and i met with one of his brothers and shared a couple of beers.
NOW i'm back, and writing this. Sorry that this is so jumbled and lacking in detail, but i am tired! Hope all of you are well!
Love,
Patrick
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