25 Marzo 2012

the universe pulling through!
drum roll please

this was my inbox this morning

Estimada Lu,
 I have attached the CVs of the people who replied to the job posting for the librarian and teacher position. Why don't you come by the office monday and we can review them together and invite one or two to interview? 


Victor Arturo Urquizo*
COPLAN


an hour later i get

Lauren
I wanted to check on your library project. We have approved a donation of $1250 for books subject to the conditions below. Let me know your thoughts


Mike Stafley
Quechua Benefit


We now have a teacher/librarian and books! One sustainable library project coming up!


*emails in this entry are not exact quotes, words have been added for clarification purposes on the part of the blog reader

24 Marzo 2012

saying goodbye to my family was a million times harder than i expected.
i haven't quite put my finger on why, but it is true that i miss them.

it is such a strange internal struggle: one part of me wants to be able to get dinner with them any night of the week we want, but another part of me won't live in northwest ohio if you paid me.
how can familiarity be so comforting one moment, but i want to run away from it the next? perhaps it is my hunger to learn and travel.

my parents' and brother's trip here was beautiful. i could not have asked for more (except for that one night when i thought the altitude was literally killing my mother, but she woke up healthy the next morning).
when i will see them again is the question that torments my heart and mind.

but, my heart tells me i need to keep moving forward in work, time, and space. who knows where i will be during my gap year between peace corps and grad school... argentina, italy, ireland, uk, france.... what i do know is i made a pinky promise this morning that i would at least visit austin before starting graduate school. that eases my stomach and calms the muscles in my worried face.

23 Marzo 2012

got a phone call a couple days ago that the mayor of madrigal and his whole family tumbled down the side of the canyon in a car accident. the mayor's mother died, he, his wife and his two kids (both my students) are in critical condition in the hospital in arequipa. i am headed there to visit in a couple days.

22 Marzo 2012

"a picture is worth a thousand words"

5 Marzo 2012

Some images of the second round of drafts for the VALE program manual...

Thank you Mario for your brilliance!

2 Marzo 2012 take two

Another big win today. Elvis and his mother showed up from the ranch in time for school to start.

They were both soaked and cold. As I tethered the llama they used to pack his things Claudia asked, “Luz, what are you going to invite us to?” Meaning… ‘feed me, please’.

Heck yeah I will feed you! I am so glad you have proven everyone wrong and showed up in time for Elvis to be in classes when they begin. I’ll even kiss your stinky feet, I am so excited!

Later I found out she thought they started classes last week and he had missed a week. I am going to pretend I don’t know that.

2 Marzo 2012

A headache has been attacking me all day. I couldn’t think straight. I had to stop cleaning and packing to roll around in bed and moan.

I get so few headaches here, I had forgotten how torturous they are. I can’t believe I worked and studied through these in my university days. Today, Paracetamol/tlenol didn’t even do the trick. My brain couldn’t even function enough to listen to the radio or watch a movie.
Finally I made myself soup, and sniffing the vapors did the trick. So now, I have pulled the tire tub into my room and boiling water with eucalyptus leaves to treat what must have been a sinus headache.

Mmmm hot bath….

1 Marzo 2012 take three

so much has happened today.

The words were said two days ago, “March is a month that is going to bring much joy.” Tis true!

Today, while I was busy and dirty scrubbing my rug hung on the line, there was a knock at the door, then the familiar voice, “Lauren! I see you! Don’t ignore me little lady!” Its Angelica! My good friend that took the head of the VALE program designing and financing until she got pregnant and had to leave for the city for about a year. Now she is back to teach in the high school with her 6-month-old. She was so rushed she nearly forgot why she came by during our 5 minute hug. She is moving into a new apartment in town between Hirma and Meche’s with the baby. She invited me to meet the baby at lunch. 2 hours later we were all together again. Meche, Hirma, Angelica and I; my girlz. I could not have been happier, and Angelica more distracted with the baby. All of us joking, making fun of each other, and laughing like we were never apart.

After catching each other up on the happenings of the past school year and summer vacation, we all marched together back down to my house where Dona Juana had stored Angelica’s furniture.  Angelica used to live in the room I live in now (before the apartments were built in the plaza), so she is as much an aunt of the family as I am. Dona Juana was delighted to see her.

Tonight, Roxana learned how to make chocolate chip cookies, and the girlz laughed at us chopping wood for the oven, “you two…” they shook their heads thinking of how much we are all going to miss each other but not wanting to say the words.

Now, it is time to love on every minute I have with them.

1 Marzo 2012 take two

I do believe that we have had a huge win today. Many would say that I am crazy, but we already knew that…

So, upon meeting with the Mayor, he starts with this schpeal about how it is a small municipality and how funding is limited. My heart drops. My cheeks rose as the fire in my head ignites.

Then he explains, that the money from the ministry of education isn’t enough to contact a teacher for phys ed or music. Some community members have requested a teacher for both subjects so they have requested the municipality education budget cover it. So, what he would like to do is hire someone to carry three responsibilities that he believes the community needs: manage the library, teach vale, and teach music or phys ed. I jumped on music. Obviously, with my ache for quality music that doesn’t exist here, I completely understand his desire/concern. I offer the impossible, “If I find this person that not only has a teaching degree, but can manage a library, teach a wind instrument, AND wants to live in Madrigal, can you promise me the full salary of S/. 10,800?” “yes” and the funny thing is I believe him. He has really impressed me with the projects he has made happen in madrigal over the past 6 months, and I have a lot of faith in him. I do think what he has asked me is half impossible, but that has never stopped me before. Then my head starts running with ideas about the vale space being VERY art oriented, writing music appreciation into the curriculum, getting instruments donated from a French contact I have in Lima. I love it. It feels right. Not only am I bringing the community what they need with the program, but what they want and can reasonably provide for themselves. We are working together with what we have.

I think that if I go straight to the universities, I can find someone fresh out of college with these qualifications that would be willing and excited to teach somewhere different with such a good salary.  I might be surprised and find this not to be the case, but I am going to try my darndest, and am very optimistic.

Time to get to work…

Ignited

In such a good way

1 Marzo 2012 3:13 am

2 years ago my neighbor’s wife died.

So, in my first few months of service I ignored the fact that he was getting drunk every night and waking up me and my family with unbelievably loud music.

Then he went to work in the mine, and didn’t come to madrigal for about a year.

When he did come back on the anniversary of his wife’s death, there was a party like never before on the other side of my window. I actually had to leave madrigal because 3 nights in a row I could not sleep and I started to get the headache of my life.

Then, a few months later he hosted the town fiesta. Literally, bands (plural) playing on the other side of my window.  Once again, I left town for a couple days. When I came back, they were still partying for a few nights more. I tolerated it. I just laid in bed awake for hours.

Following the fiesta there have been parties more than I can bare. He is still working in the mines, 20 days on 10 days off.  For those ten days, he parties. I am literally, not a joke, losing my mind due to lack of sleep. I am laying in bed conniving how I am going to go cut the electricity to his house, or break in when he goes to work and beak his stereo system so it can’t play base. 

Finally, tonight, I had had enough of the no sleep. I have a series of important meetings with the municipality tomorrow (today, beginning in three hours) and I would really appreciate my sleep. I am pretty sure there is no law for noise pollution in this country, but I can at least try to talk to him as a kind neighbor that has tolerated much for long.

I wrap myself in a blanket and the dog and I walk around to his house. As I knock on the door, no one answers, but a woman I know is shaking her head and leaving.

“good evening, tia.”

“they are drinking, a lot.” She says

“can they turn down the music?”

“I don’t know, they are really drunk, will they understand?”

I walk to the door that some kid answers I don’t know (probably younger than me), if I don’t know him, he doesn’t live here. I ask to speak to the owner of the house.

Screaming over the music,

“I need you to turn down the music, your neighbor’s can’t sleep.”

“this is my house.”

“I understand, but these are our houses, and we can’t sleep in them.”

“my house… I do what…. in my house.” he says as he waves the back of his hand to me signaling me to leave, the room reeks of beer and vomit.

“see that light on right there, that is the window to my bedroom, and I can never sleep when you party like this, I need you to turn the music down.”

“go to hell, this is my house.”

“ok, now, I am going to bring the police over to talk to you.”

He turns the music up louder.

As so many young drunken eyes stare up at me (sitting, because they are unable to stand) I realize, this house is the party house because he has no wife. These men and boys are here because their women aren’t. I had no idea before tonight these parties were groups of disgustingly drunk alcoholics convening to avoid responsibility (did I mention this gentleman sent his children to live with someone else?).

As I am walking to the police station another woman is coming to the house to try and convince her son to come home. I am thinking, this isn’t good for this man, for me to get the police involved, it could be very bad, in fact, because he and his buddies are so drunk. But, what am I going to do, not sleep, night after night, week after week? Isn’t it better that these little rond-dez-vous be stopped? These drinking habits have to stop not only for me, but for them. The officer kindly answers at my first knock and explains that he will go with me, but isn’t sure if he can do anything because they are probably drunk and out of their minds.

I go back to my house as he walks into theirs. I meet the mother in the road and we chat about how this isn’t ok that the men and boys do this. Then there is shouting. I hear a smack. One drunk man leaves to “go get his pata who will take down this mother fu***”  The mother jumps into a shadow so she isn’t seen, as I grab my dog that, for some reason, wants to attack this angry man. Why is this woman hiding? I am astounded that her reaction is to jump in the shadows of a man who is friends with her son. Then I realize I should probably jump in the shadows with her. I grab my dog’s collar and we start walking back towards her and my house, briskly. Then, the entire group of men spill onto the street, the police officer with his arm around one of the men’s bisep, struggling. The music still blaring. They all follow down the street to the police station.

‘damn it, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to these guys, I just wanted them to let me sleep. Did he just hit the police officer? What just happened? They are so screwed if one of his buddies hit the police officer, I didn’t want that to happen.’

Then the woman asked me, using a derogatory slang word, “who narked?”

“it is that my family and I can’t sleep and he does this drunkenness often. Look, my family is watching television because they cant sleep right now. It isn’t ok for them to do this so regularly.” But I am thinking, it isn’t ok for them to do this ever. Not for them, their families, or neighbors.

Then, this woman hiding in the shadows, afraid of her neighbors, says, “yeah, once a week would be fine, but they have done this three times this week. The going away to work party.” My god, she is making excuses for them!

Once the group of men were around the corner, I did something illegal. While I wanted to cut all electricity to the house, I controlled myself and just snuck into the empty, stinking room and turned the music down to almost nothing.

As I walked back to my house I heard a man drunkenly sobbing.

Then, I am thinking, if the police can’t handle this, or if they weren’t here, what would I have done if things went badly? Don Juan is in Arequipa, and I have not a single male friend in town. I work with women. My friends are women. That feeling of being unable to protect myself is debilitating.

Now, my dog and i are curled up in bed as the roosters begin to crow. She, is who would protect me if this drunkard decides to take things up with me. Thank god for her.

But what about other single mothers who live here? They just tolerate it. They are abused physically and emotionally and call it being patient and compassionate of their sons and husbands.

                  

29 Febrero 2012

Most mornings, Hirma juices; And the nights I stay with her, I get to partake. Mango and milk one day, then pinapple peach the next. Similar, to how I sneak vitamin packed hot chocolate to Roxana and Elvis, she sneaks in what she thinks I need… fiber supplements, vitamin c powder, etc.

She is very aware of my digestive issues considering we eat as many meals together as apart. She takes special care on her day to cook to fix things that not only please Meche and my distinct pallets, but will assist in my digestive processes. This morning, at 7:30am, as the rooster and hen cackles are bringing me from my slumber, she calls to say she is coming over with some powder packets I need to drink in juice every morning.

I stole the blender from the after school program this morning, and made myself a manderine, salvado, yogurt, and peach ‘omnilife’ blend. So delightful, one might even forget for a second the tap is dry and I have an entire chacra to weed by hand after we feed the cows today.


I have been giving Roxana my camera, and she is loving on the art of photography. Here are some shots from the last few days… 

27 Febrero 2012 take two

While reading Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Moritson I wanted to create a school program to bring impoverished children educational access

Then I did.

While reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamont, I wanted to become a woman that lives with her hands and the Earth. Life with a spiritual balance of antiquity and advancement.

Now, I do.

While reading Patti Smiths “Just Kids” I wanted to fall in love and bring more fun into my hard-working lifestyle.

Now, I have.

While reading Lehyma Gbowee’s book “Mighty Be Our Powers” I played with the ideas of being a peace-maker. Working with victims of violence.

Now, while reading Ami McKay’s “The Birth House” I play with the idea of midwifery and healing women.

Amazing how literature is influencing my tomorrow as my head begins to run with ideas of workshops for mothers in my last few months of service and I begin to prepare for the year to come.

The mantra of Maxine Cabbot and my beloved fictional character Dora Rare,

“The world will know and understand me someday. But if that day does not arrive, it does not greatly matter. I shall have opened the way for other women.” –George Sand

27 febrero 2012

do you ever feel guilty about having not been part of the suffragist or civil rights fight and living the benefits?