Sunday, June 13, 2010

to 15000 feet and back

Its hard to believe that another month has flown by and that for the first time ever I am off the academic calendar. Thankfully, June in July in Peace Corps Peru is bringing a boatload of distractions that should make me forget that such a thing as summer vacation ever existed. This week I go to a rural part of Lima called Yauyos with the rest of the Ancash environment volunteers to see the volunteer sites there and maybe try and get some ideas. Then next week I have a project design seminar in Lima with my school director. One week later I should be running a marathon (my fingers are still crossed, but I think I will be ready) and right after that my parents are coming to visit. So somehow it seems like life is on hold till August. But that is all in the future, and skipping over the past month would be a mistake…
The last big event in May was a girl’s leadership/empowerment camp we did in Ancash where each volunteer brought two teenage girls from his/her community. We did a huge range of activities from yoga to bracelet making to career planning. Now some of you may be asking, Alex ¨what could possibly have been your role in these sorts of activities?¨ My answer, truthfully, is not much. I brought girls, and supported my friends who led sessions, acted in a gender equality play and led a discussion about it afterwards and refreshed all of my old camp counselor skills. But I honestly felt a little out of place all weekend, especially as in Ancash male volunteers are outnumbered heavily by female volunteers. The important part is that it seems as if all the girls really enjoyed it, and in a male dominated culture where opportunities for women can be few and far between I think it was a really great and important program. Also seeing two teenage girls in traditional dress doing yoga is one of those cross-cultural experiences that you have to see to believe and makes you remember why working outside the US can be so mind blowingly cool.
The other really incredible thing that I have done recently is climb a mountain. Now that may sound mundane, but remember I live in the foothills of the tallest mountain in Peru. Now if this works right, there should be some sweet pictures to go along with my somewhat less impressive words, but I will try my best anyway. At 5:30 am I walked down from my site to Musho, my friend Kaitlin’s site two towns down the hill where the trek up Huascaran starts. The 5 of us going met there, divided up tents and food and set out. Within two hours we had left behind most of the signs of civilization (except for cows, there were cows over 4000 meters) and were hiking up through beautiful quenal forests, a tree that is native to, and in only grows in, the high Andes. It is also probably the coolest tree species on Earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylepis). It was pretty and peaceful and it did not seem awfully hard, although my calves may beg to differ (they still kinda hurt…). After about four hours, with a few breaks thrown in and a ton of questionably necessary pictures, we made it to Huascaran base camp, 4200 meters, where all of the summiting expeditions set out. We set up our tents and set out for the glacier, which we thought was an easy hour stroll away. Wrong—it was a two hour rock scramble. It was hard and really high and we were really tired, but it was worth it. Being on/near a glacier is a side of nature I never even imagined. There were shades of blue in the ice that looked supernatural. And it was cool to think that down at site it was probably about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and I was playing with snow. Also, I will refrain from any commentary on global warming, but it was definitely also striking to think that in X years there may not be any more ice there at all. After playing on the snow for a little, we had to head back down before dark. We got a little bit lost and while the sunset was absolutely gorgeous, we were all a little bit more focused on getting back in one piece to our tents. It looked a bit sketchy, but we made it back about 20 minutes after dark with minimal mishap (I ripped my pants on a rock—I am not happy about it, but in the big picture I guess it is good that that was the worst that befell me). And after a pasta dinner and a few minutes of star gazing we passed out exhausted. The morning was freezing, but you could see the shadow of the mountain we were on against the mountain range across the valley—again, very cool. And then we hiked down and rejoined our towns in their daily lives, finally being able to say, yes I have been up to the ice and it is awesome (I was being asked every day since the rainy season ended when I would go). It also gave me a really good appreciation for the type of adventures and unique experiences my Peace Corps experience will give me the opportunity to have. Sorry if that was a really long description that just sounded like a normal hike. For me it was epic, and I cannot look at the mountain the same way, but sadly words fall short of experience.
So anyway, those are the exciting parts of my life. Teaching continues to be what it is. I made an English board game this week and I think it was the first time anyone in my 5th and 6th grade class had ever experienced a board game (the spaces were numbered and they did not know what to do after 6 because that is all there is on the dice). In honor of environment day on June 5th we (Kaitlin Pete and I) went up and down the hill with an anti-littering puppet show which was well received. We also had an AIDS seminar and as all PEPFAR money that goes to Peru is entrusted to Peace Corps we are all now starting to develop HIV-AIDS/sexual health projects. HIV-AIDS is not really an issue now, but once you get one case…Also according to people I trust to know these things, there are lots of undiagnosed cases of STDs in our rural populations. Also, anything that encourages responsible sexual behavior is a plus in my book—I constantly get asked why I do not have a Yanamiteña girlfriend. The easiest answer to explain is that everyone in town who is my age already has two kids. So it is outside of my usual sphere, but it looks like I will be doing some sexual health promotion. Besides that, working with my buddy Pete we managed to get some garbage cans for our towns from our shared municipality and we are working hard to get a garbage truck up here at least twice a month. So such is my life. Like I said my parents come soon, so if anyone wants to send something for me with them, you are more than welcome…also sorry for the lack of apostrophes, everyone freaking Spanish keyboard is different…hope you are all well and happy summer. And now, pictures, from the bottom up, so to speak…