Time Travel

“Time keeps on slipping into the future” – Steely Dan

Time has a funny quality here. There are days that seem endless and months that pass in mere minutes. I at once can’t believe I’ve lived in Peru for all of 2010 and also feel like I’ve been here much, much longer. There’s a sense of sameness in small towns like Huaca Rajada, a feeling that time is somewhat irrelevant. People come and go, easing in and out of our lives as they seek work in Chiclayo, Lima, or further afield, but they’re always welcomed back as if no time has passed at all. Conversations veer to the familiar – the weather, family members, the latest town gossip. One doesn’t have to be here every day to understand the cycles of the seasons or the small family dramas that play out similarly in households around the world.

We tell time by the cars leaving for Chiclayo. It’s time for lunch with the “Rápido” (even after 16 months, I have no idea why this particular car is so named, they all seem equally slow to me) lumbers down the dirt road, Chiclayo-bound. I know it’s Saturday because Jackey (my other host sister) and her son come spend the day with us. Otherwise there is little difference between a Monday and a Thursday, or a Tuesday and a Sunday; the days blend together in a lulling rhythm broken only by the occasional campo baile.

When I return to site after a week or two of travel, I’m always a little worried that my artisans or family will have had some important meeting or participated in some big event without me. But every time I come back, they greet me as if I’ve always been here. As if my absence was a fleeting second. Sure, there’s a little friendly guilt-tripping – “Jessica, it’s been years,” they say. But I get this snarky retort whether I’ve been gone two days or two weeks. No, they respond, nothing new is going on here, nothing new to report. “Aqui estamos,” they reply day after day.

In many ways this blasé attitude toward the future is incredibly frustrating. It’s hard to motivate people to work when they are convinced that this is their lot in life and little they do will ever change their situation. Granted, there are a few incredibly motivated people in my town, but two or three people, mighty as they are, can’t carry an entire population forward. So from a development standpoint, time works against me.

But on a personal level, it’s been comforting to realize that I’ve woven myself into the fabric of this town, of it’s unique pace and personality. I don’t know when it happened, but one day I suddenly knew the combi schedule, I could predict what was for lunch based on the weather. It’s odd to find yourself at home in a place that once seemed so remote and alien. Time has a way of making everything eventually familiar.

Sometimes I wonder if they’ll remember me when I come back to visit in five, ten, or twenty years. I can’t answer for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll find the same women gossiping in the shade of the algarroba tree, and they’ll welcome me back into their folds as if no time has passed at all. As if I’ve always been here.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday season, wherever you are!

Work Week

Lest you think all I do is flit from one exotic locale to the next, I thought I'd take a minute to fill you in on some site- and work-related news. Generally, my vacations and misadventures on the road make for much more entertaining blog posts, but the real essence of Peace Corps is what happens when you're at site, alone, and without Internet to keep your loyal blog followers abreast of your day-to-day activities.

As you all know, (because I have proudly pointed it out numerous times) I've been in site now for more than a year, which means I'm now reliving events and occasions from last year -- birthdays, anniversaries, artisan fairs, etc. It's a really odd sensation to come back to these events from the perspective of a more experienced, less naive version of myself. Talking with my volunteer friends, it seems we're all having these mid-service musings, noticing that everything we thought was so weird and SO awkward last year now seems, well, normal.

The past few weeks have seen me enjoying the following activities: a super swanky, super professional gastronomic fair in Lima. I accompanied my crazy artisan friend who somehow scored an invite to display her algarrobina products, representing our department. We were so the campesinas at this thing. MISTURA, as it was called, makes the Charleston Food & Wine Fest look downright redneck. Seriously. There were apparently 40,000 visitors on day one, and chefs from all over the world. Maria and I were both a little overwhelmed, but we put on a brave front and ate our way through the next four days. And, on an exciting note, she sold all of the algarrobina she brought -- nearly S/. 2000 soles worth. It was a big deal for us, but I'm sure there were vendors there who were selling well into the tens of thousands.

Maria proudly displays her algarrobina

Hard at work. I promise she likes me.

Upon arriving back in site, I was greeted with the exciting news that it was time for the second annual livestock competition/fair in Pomalca. Loyal readers will recall my amazement at last year's inaugural event. I was so confused that whole time! I walked into an impressive number of admirers, all of whom remembered me from last year. I was immediately whisked away to the VIP stage, where I had to sit for hours upon hours staring out into the hot and dusty crowd. I judged a beauty pageant, pinned some ribbons on some prize heifers and tried to avoid the leers of the drunken cattle ranchers. I don't know what I expected, but somehow the second go 'round just wasn't as hilarious as I remembered. I think it has a lot to do with knowing the audience a lot better. Knowing that you can't be too friendly unless you want to be the happy recipient of 37+ phone calls a day. Knowing that the cattle round-up is going to take three hours. A minor dental emergency prevented me from participating in the weekend finale, which was when all the crazy stuff went down last year. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've learned my way around this country and its customs, for better or worse, I know what I'm doing (especially when you break out a drinking circle) and that is both reassuring and anti-climactic.

After a recent "shaman" night outside the museum. Papy, second from left, played the shaman's assistant.

We've also been prepping for several other artisan fairs in the coming months -- working on presentation of products, streamlining production schedules, and networking our little artisan arses off. I'm in the midst of the initial stages of starting a community bank in my town, kicking off an HIV-AIDS prevention campaign, and making over a dirt field into a community garden with the kiddies. As always, these projects prove more challenging than they sound. But with my year (hey, did you here? I've been here more than a year) comes patience, a higher tolerance, and hopefully a little wisdom. Just keep on truckin'.

Local dance troupe at a museum event

Speaking of exotic locales, I am writing this en route to the U.S. of A. Yep, This American Life is going back to the motherland for a quick visit, where I'm sure my idea of normal will be spun on its head all over again. Can't wait to see many of you in the flesh in just a few days! Don't worry about recognizing me -- I'll be the girl with the bad hair, wearing a slightly dazed expression, a can of Diet Coke in one hand and a Bud Light in the other.

Editor's note: I wrote this post before my American extravaganza, and I can't help but to leave that last paragraph in, mainly because it proved to be almost exactly true (Mom sprung for me to get my hair cut before the wedding festivities). I'll post a post-America post soon.