Random "who would have thought?"

Here is a little list of some funny and some useful things that I have to share.

1) Note to self: do not put toilet paper in the toilet whilst in Latin America. The system does not like it.

2) If someone is whistling (ie: like a catcall) and you are the only gringa, it is most likely at you, even if it is coming from a 12 year old.

3) Beware of sidewalks, they aren't that stable.

4) To go with 3), beware of the lone puddle in the street after falling off of the unstable sidewalk. You will land in that lone puddle.

5) Pleasant discovery #1: Ice cream is cheap and good. Have lots of it.

6) Pleasant discovery #2: "raton" is a chocolate cake covered with chocolate goodness and peanuts. They cost 1 sol and San Jose makes the best ones!

7) Aguacate (aka avocado) is known as palta in these parts.

8) When ordering an egg you may need to specify without salt.

9) "Chifa" is the Peruvian answer to a chinese restaurant.

10) "Chaufa" is the Peruvian answer to fried rice.

That's the 10 that I have for you tonight. More to come when I think of more.

Week one of workshops: check!

It has been some time since I last kept everyone up to date. There is some good news to report; we completed our first week of workshops in the community and it was a successful first set. Our second set begins today and will run until Friday again. It was really amazing to spend our afternoons in the communities getting to know the women and the children whilst teaching, learning and sharing experiences with them.

This past weekend we did a day excursion to one of the local sites called “Kuelap”. It is a pre-Incan ruin that was actually discovered before Machu Picchu however as it was a Peruvian who discovered it, it did not get as much Western publicity as MP. This site is spectacular as it is located at the top of a mountain at an altitude of 3,000m and boasts the ruins of hundreds of homes. Some of the carvings in the rock are very well preserved and you can notice the different hybrid creatures that the ancient Chachapoyans worshipped. There are also some Incan ruins on site as the Incas did eventually take over the site. The main way to differentiate the two cultures is by the shape of the buildings; the Chachapoyans built theirs in a circular shape whilst the Incas built theirs in a square shape.

This week is filled with our second set of workshops as forementioned as well as the start of our report that Sarah is starting on as well as developing the final presentations that we will be giving to both the Municipality here (with the press on hand) as well as to WUSC back in Lima at the start of July. I will be working on both of these presentations with Erma who is from here.

On a side note, last week there was a congress in Lima that addressed the latest struggles in the Amazonas region for the aboriginal groups and whilst I do not have any details on the results, our friend who is from the Condorconqui group has said that things have settled for the positive for the aboriginal groups. I will try to look into more details and keep you posted.

This is not how I thought this day was going to be.

Last night I was admitted to the ER of our local hospital as I still had stomach pains since Friday. It turns out that it was definitely food poisoning coupled with good old dehydration, not a fun combo when you are trying to do work as well (ie: surveying families in shantytowns where there is no shade and it is at the height of day). I spent 6 hours between being treated and being released which isn´t bad at all, plus I was treated to many stories and jokes by two of my Peruvian counterparts.
However, this morning I awoke to my roommate and friend being in a similar state of pain but with more symptoms which led her to the emergency this morning and where she is also spending the night under observation. Luckily (or unluckily), our one and only other Canadian team member has also been in the hospital since Saturday night for internal infections so at least the two of them are going to be able to hang out together tonight.
I spent the entire day with both of them whilst everyone else was working as I was off for bedrest today to fully recuperate from my illness. What isn´t cool is that when you are admitted into hospitals here you actually get given a prescription by the doctor for everything that is needed while you are in the hospital´s care (ie: IVs, meds, etc) and half the time you have to check out more than one little pharmacy (imagine the smallest corner store that you have ever been to then halved it) to get everything that you need. So I had a great time this afternoon navigating the Peruvian pharmacy system and I am pretty sure that the 3 sick Canadians are quite well known here.
After such a crazy long day and a serious lack of sleep all that I wanted to do was have some food, go back to the hostal, check my e-mails and go to bed but our team is so amazing and so, after a great vegetarian dinner, I was surprised with a little b-day celebration.
So that´s where today is at.
Political update: looks like there is going to be a strike this Thursday in town so we have the day off again. Don´t know how long it is going to last. Please know that as of right now we are very safe, espcially staying where we are.
Ciao everyone!

Fiestas & Protests

So here I am in an internet cafe after a day of being bed-ridden and let me tell you about yesterday.
I am going to spare you the details of suffering of both food poisoning and altitude sickness but move on to something that is way more important and close to my heart.
There have been protests in our region for close to 50 days now. You may have heard of protests occuring in the high Andes around Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu but what strikes closer to where I am calling home are the blockades that are occuring only a few hours away. Our way in to Chachapoyas had to be changed last week due to a blockage to the west of us. We luckily made it into town when we did as the road to the east of us is now blocked as well. Why are they blocked? Well, what you may not know is how the Free Trade Agreement affects the lives of those who live on the lands of these natural resources. Chachapoyas is in the middle of the Amazonas region of Peru, located in the northeast portion of the country. Many aboriginal groups live in this area and for the last while, they are being pushed out of their homes for the sake of ¨development¨. Just yesterday, the government´s police force opened fire from helicopters on those protesting just 3 hrs away from us. The initial number was 20 dead but by mid-afternoon the numbers had climbed to 100 then by evening to 200. Right now the numbers being reported in the news both here and abroad are still very conservative at only 20 or 30 but the truth is that it is 10 times that. Reports from the lines include children as young as 4 being a part of the victims.
One of our Peruvian counterparts is an aboriginal from the Condorconqui group who is one of the groups protesting right now. It has been hard on most of our group as this relates closely to those around us. We were able to collect funds last night and help our Condoconqui friend purchase medicine and food to send to the front lines to help those injured in what is truly a massacre on those protecting their rights.
The reports from the Peruvian Prime Minister stating that it is a plot on the native´s part against democracy is ridiculous as just yesterday power was cut to all of Chachapoyas for several hours to stop all communication from getting out. How´s that for democracy?
If you want to read up on more info, please check out rabble.ca and look up Ben Powless´article on protests in Peru.
Naturally I will be keeping you updated from my end! Ciao

Phew! Chachapoyas arrival = good stories to tell!

Aboriginal road blocks caused a change of plans from a 20hr bus ride through the Andes to an adventure through the jungle instead.
Monday night we took a plane to Tarapoto and arrived in what ended up being a paradise. "Los Huingos" was a amazing hostel where we stayed in beautiful rooms with hammocks on the patio, a rio running behind us, and butterflies all around. We introduced the Peruvians to Maple fudge, Maple cookies and some good old Canadian wine.
The next morning led to exploring the rio and enjoying some hot hot heat (which led to a sunburn that we discovered today, YIKES!). Shortly thereafter we said adios to paradise and all 17 of us, plus luggage plus driver, piled in to a "combi" which is slightly bigger than my old Toyota van, to say that it was crowded is putting it lightly. The best was that I am pretty sure that the interior is original so to paint a picture it was metal frame with some blue vinyl over top which does not lead to the most comfortable situation for 10 hours.
To keep ourselves occupied we shared music with each other that led to pulling into Moyobambo with Tokyo Police Club blaring from the combi and eventually to a sing-a-long to Bedouin Soundclash's "When the night feels my song" by the Peruvians. Amazing!
Today was fun-filled with an adventure to Chacha's viewpoint where we had the most amazing vista of the town as well as of the surrounding mountains then it was off to the local museum for a crashcourse on the locale. After a lunch which included a soup with chicken feet in it, we were on to business when we met our project coordinator from the municipality and we went over our game plan for tomorrow's work.
Tonight we're off to enjoy festivities that are a part of the "semana de la turista" so stay tuned!