A letter to another volunteer, quotes

Below is a letter that I mailed to a friend, Katie who lives in the department of Lambayeque in a rural town.

Tuesday Aug 29th, 2006

Katie, What up Cuz? We haven´t talked for a few weeks and you´ve been on my mind. Here in Carata I sit in my cold little room, the local dogs bark in the background. Tomorrow is a holiday, Sta. Rosa de Lima, so the town is even more dead than usual (but I like it that way). I feel like I´ve been in site forever. It´s been over two weeks, going on three before I bajar to Trujillo Friday morning.

I can´t really complain though, it´s just the usual commodities of life that I chase. I haven´t eaten real food in a while, nor taken a hot shower or spoken fluent English, but these are all things that I´m growing accustomed to living with out (surely, you are too).

What a long strange trip this Peace Corps adventure has been. Remember the P.C. advertisement with the man hanging from the 100+ directional sign pointing to different countries in the world? I thought, how exotic! But really, how gullible was I? Well girl, a year later, what do you think?

Yesterday I went to visit the local Alcalde in regards to agua potable. Juan and I wrote an oficio explaining the severity of the h20 problem and we had almost all the important people in town sign it (those with stamps of course). So, we hiked down to Motil a neighboring town, and jumped on a micro to Agallpampa.

The Alcalde was actually in his office! Que suerte! We explained the oficio, the project and a little about SPA without giving away too many important details (such as SPA= Free $US Dollars!). Unfortunately Mr. Alcade couldn´t give us a straight answer, if he´d support us or not. He was more interested in learning about US culture and the meaning of some damn English word he heard/saw on TV. Visgoshs. What the hell? I hate it when they that, how do you translate a made up word? What do you say, sorry Mr. Mayor, you´re an idiot, that´s not even English! The best I could come up with was Viscous, without hurting his ego, I explained the definition. Whatever. Later on, Juan was reading one of my Newsweeks and came across the mystery word, ¨because¨. What beautiful pronunciation.

I´m resigning from my current position as a English teacher. Ya No Ya. Lets just say, it´s not pretty. I feel used and abused and unappreciated. And P.S., I´m a health volunteer not an English teacher!

On a lighter note, this host family Emilia found is really growing on me. So much so, that I (gasp) really want to bring them back Christmas gifts from the US in January. The 9 y/o girl that lives with us, Merli is my little buddy. You could call her my host sister. We´ve begun reading fairy tales every night before bed. It´s good reading practice for her and me! Besides I´m learning all kinds of new Spanish vocab like evil step mother, wicked witch, dwarfs, and all the world of make believe. I´m going to keep up the reading with her, as long as she´s got the energy to do it!

What´s new in Laquipampa? Isaac and I should come up to camp. I´ve got this new tent that I don´t even use. In Oct. and Nov. I´ve got some free weekends. Are you game for thanksgiving in Ancash? I can´t wait. And just a few weeks after that I´ll be eating bagels and cream cheese with chai tea in the the good ol´ US of A.

Here´s a trip down memory lane...

Remember- Apple pie? Sushi? 7/11 Burritos? Berry Berry Kix? Tropicana Orange Juice? Movie Lovers Microwave Popcorn? Fudge? The salad bar? Apple Cider? Chex Mix? Pita bread? Tabule? Seven layer dip? Blueberry muffins? A-1 sauce? Enchiladas? Cus Cus? Ben & Jerry´s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream? Egg Nog? Tacos? Veggie Burgers, Ants on a log? Waffles? Ranch Dressing?

I´m sure to make myself sick after eating all that, but it´s wonderful to dream! Love, Mateo


Here are two quotes related to how i´ve been feeling lately...

¨To succede in this culture it´s necessary to always have a plan B. Plan A is destined to fail for uncontrolable reasons such as relying on transport, weather, technology, and considering emergencies, your doomed. But the single most important reason for failure is depending on human beings. Things are reliable, predictable and safe in the U.S. In Perú, every element of life is chaotic and wreckless. For example, while writing this , I was conviently interupted to help retrieve a key locked in our health post. Plan A, pick or remove the lock. Plan B, break the window. We choose the later. ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B.¨

¨I often find myself feeling angry, an anger that had been hidden deeply inside me for years. It wasn´t until this experience that it has emerged. I´m certain that these strong feelings are connected to my role as a volunteer. There is so much that I can´t control and it seems to spin into a helpless whilwind.

There is the continual lack of basic necesities like water, electricity, heat and comfort. The broken promises from community members, teachers, school principals, and work counterparts. The ubiquitous cultural habits related to punctuality, organization, prioritization, travel and contamination. And even more specifically, the ignorance, miseducation, disrespect and ungratefulness.

It´s these reasons that provoke such powerful feelings. I was accustomed to just floating through I cushy life with few problems. Here in Perú every action I take, hundreds daily, are done for different reasons. I´ve had to re-learn how to live as if I were Peruvian, just to survive. I´ve adapted my actions to conform to peruvian society. And personally, thats why this is the hardest job I´ll ever love.¨