Weekly Wisdom #1

In conjunction with one of Peace Corps’ three goals, I’ve decided to share some cultural tidbits to my loyal readers back in the US of A. Instead of nonsensical ramblings about random events in my daily life, I present to you the first installment of Weekly Wisdoms.
A few things I’ve learned recently:
· In Piura, a department in northern Peru, men have sex with donkeys for fun. This is culturally acceptable.
· According to my language teacher, who dabbles in palm reading, I will meet the love of my life within the next year. I asked her if he was Peruvian. She’s not sure. I’m thinking no.
· El dia del padre = lots of drunk dads. We opened a bottle of brandy at 10.30am on Sunday. Grandpa got a little loose. My neighbor’s fiesta went until 3am.
· It is not uncommon for volunteers to find bats in their rooms. Some bats bite. Some bats have rabies. If I get bitten by a rabid bat, it’s over.
· I have pushed myself to the brink of my bravado with regard to food. I pulled a feather out of my mouth after taking a bite of soup the other day. I pulled another feather out of my mouth two bites later. The bowl next to me had chicken feet floating in it. I did not enjoy this meal.
· 99% of volunteers will crap their pants at some point during their service. This does not disturb nearly as much as it should.
· It is perfectly acceptable to wash your hair in an outdoor sink. Check.
· All “public” transport is privatized, meaning the combis (like tricked-out minivans) work off commission. A twelve-seat van can hold at least 30 passengers. Speed is more important than safety. One a particularly crowded ride, I was the lucky recipient of a full body spoon. Ass to crotch. It gets hot.
· Mexican food in Lima is very expensive. Also does not sit well on a two-hour combi ride back to my town. (I am not part of the 99%. Yet.)
· How to kill a guinea pig without losing any of the meat. Granted this all theoretical and I've yet to practice, but I'm ready. Bring it on cuys.
· A spoonful of peanut butter in the privacy of my own room always makes me feel better.
· 1,000 new Spanish words, phrases, slang…my head hurts.
· On a more serious note, Peruvians are kind and generous and extremely welcoming. My family is so good to me and they generally care about me. The people in my town have welcomed us all with smiles and laughter. Most are open and more than happy to talk about their lives, their jobs, their country. I’ve learned more than I can begin to innumerate and it’s been less than three weeks. I can’t even imagine what I will know or feel in a month, six months, a year. It’s overwhelming, frustrating, exciting, hard, invigorating and hilarious all at once.

Here's a link to some photos on Picasa from the first few weeks. I'm still trying to figure out how to load images in bulk onto my blog, but the Internet is slooooooow and I have many important things to do. Like eat rice. And watch cartoons in Spanish. Anyway, enjoye!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessjoye25/Peru?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrI2Jrp5e2AoAE#

xoxo
J.