Tired treadmills

Cajabamba recently acquired a "gym," a.k.a. the bottom floor of this lady's house that now has a couple bikes, a couple treadmills, and some weights. For about a dollar per visit, I now have a place where I can run without any lecherous stares - hooray!

Today however, the gym lady caught a glimpse of my time on the machine - 32 minutes - and informed me that I was violating her "25-minute limit" on the treadmills. I was a bit perplexed, as there wasn't (and rarely ever is) anybody else working out, not to mention waiting for my machine, so I asked why there was such a rule. She replied, "because the machines get very hot, and I need to take care of them." Ohhhhh Peru.

I obligingly quit the treadmill, and went to stretch and contemplate my options. Plan A: attempt to explain to this woman that treadmills were built for running, no one wants to run for only 25 minutes, and that using a machine for longer than 25 minutes will not cause it to explode. I didn't foresee myself having much success with this option, so I went for Plan B: apologize for over-tiring the workout machine, but then explain that there's no way I'm going to keep coming in to pay for a 25-minute-limited treadmill. Thankfully, we reached a compromise: I am now the gym's official "exception to the rule," and am allowed to use the machine for however long it takes me to run 5km. Not ideal, but it'll get me through the next three months.

GenEq workshop

One of GenEq's big projects this year was holding regional workshops to train PCVs and teacher counterparts on promoting gender equity in their communities, as well as how to use the committee's new vocational orientation manual in their classrooms. I was in charge of Cajamarca's workshop, which took place this Saturday, and successfully trained 31 participants.

Introducing the first session - why talk about gender equity in Peru?

Small group work to learn more about the vocational orientation lesson plans

Practicing some of the activities from the lesson plans - this one's called "spiderweb"

The whole group

Peruvian suitcases

This is a Peruvian suitcase. It is a plastic (tarp-like material) bag approximately the size of your standard U.S. paper grocery bag, with a zipper along the top. They do come in larger versions, but this less unwieldy one is my preferred size. It may seem odd to you to call a glorified plastic bag a suitcase, but this is not joke; the majority of suitcases I see loaded onto buses here - and even a good portion of those brought onto airplanes - are exactly this variety. Peruvians consider this a perfectly good and normal suitcase - and they're right! While I would prefer that it come with straps long enough to reach over my shoulder, this plaid beauty has become my favorite transport companion for any short jaunt away from site. Indeed, I plan on bringing my Peruvian suitcase back stateside with me, so I'm sure we have a long life ahead of further travels together.

Jammin'

My host mom is an expert jam-maker - I've personally enjoyed her strawberry, blackberry, and sauco jams, and all are delicious. Currently, it's sauco season - a round red-purple berry the size of a miniature grape, native to the Peruvian mountains. Over the past month or so, Lourdes has made at least three different batches of jam, patiently sitting and stirring the berries as they come to a boil, get sugar added, and boil again...

Mosquito in a bucket

People often use the drop-in-a-bucket metaphor when talking about Peace Corps work. It's one of many inspirational/motivational/philosophical mantras we use to affirm that our person-to-person development work does, in the long run, make a difference. Today I found another quote to add to the list:

"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." - Betty Reese

173 centimeters

The Peruvian school year re-started a few weeks ago, so I've got a bunch of new classes in swing - always an exciting time. On my first day of class last week, I met Bruno, a particularly exuberant 7th grader who constantly (and vocally) participates - sometimes on topic, sometimes not. Meeting a hundred new kids in one week means that learning everybody's names just isn't going to happen, but Bruno was one of the students that stuck out. 

As I went over to put down/pick up materials from my desk during the lesson, Bruno (whose desk is, naturally, located right next to the teacher's station) took the opportunity to cheerfully remark, "Wow, you're tall! Is everybody in the United States tall? How tall are you?" I laughed and told him I couldn't say - I only knew my height in inches, which wouldn't mean much to him since Peru, like every logical country, uses the metric system. He was disappointed, but seemed content to hazard his own guess of however many centimeters, based on his standing up to estimate my height against his. When I went back to the same class a week later, Bruno met me at the door: "Do you know how tall you are now?" Clearly my metric measurement is an issue of more importance to Bruno than it is to me - I had to admit that no, I still did not know my own height, but that I would be sure to find out for next class. In case you all are wondering, I now know that 5'8'' translates to approximately 173 centimeters - bring it on, Bruno.

In other news, our family dog Vlady got a haircut this week (first time I've seen his eyes in two years). But Lourdes consequently thought he was too cold, so he got to be a "fan of La Alianza" (Javi's favorite soccer team) with a slick new dog sweater-jersey. I'll be sure to bring one back for Soph :)

Lingering meals

A couple months ago, I read an article about how a New York McDonald's had resorted to calling the police to forcibly evict restaurant patrons who the McDonald's claimed were consistently overstaying their welcome. Some things about the situation were clearly ridiculous in any cultural context, such as the McD's posted sign stating that customers have 20 minutes to finish their food - even for a meal labeled "fast food," 20 minutes is a little extreme. But other aspects of the case would give many Americans pause, and perhaps even reason to side with the McD managers: the customers "colonizing" the seats every day were "taking up tables for hours while splitting a small packet of French fries ($1.39)."

It is no coincidence that the patrons in question were a group of elderly Americans of Korean heritage, i.e., they all shared the same non-American cultural background. Only in America would a restaurant think it had the right to kick eaters out for being too slow or not ordering enough food. In Peru, restaurant mentality is very much like that of the article's elderly Koreans. Here, sharing is definitely the norm - why would friends each order their own fries when they could share? This group-ordering mentality can also be seen in the fact that Peruvian restaurants typically give you just one menu for the whole table. Along the same lines, splitting the bill is almost unheard of, especially the common American receipt-time fiasco where each person adds up the costs of the items he or she consumed and pays that exact amount. In Peru, somebody invitar's (treats) the other person, period.

As for time limits on eating, no way José! Peruvian meals/snacks/coffees/etc. last much longer than they would in the U.S., and restaurant service reflects that reality. A waiter will show up to give you a menu soon(-ish) after you sit down, but he probably won't return to the table until you signal him - they expect that you'll take your time, chatting, and eventually let them know that you're ready to order. Once it's prepared, the waiter will serve your food, but otherwise will not visit the table. The concept of dropping by to see if you need anything would be foreign here; if you need something, it is assumed you will flag someone down and ask. It is also expected and accepted that you will linger long after the meal itself is done, simply enjoying the company of your table-mates. Even at a crowded lunchtime restaurant with groups waiting for space, a Peruvian restaurant owner would never think of asking seated patrons to vacate their table - and the folks at the door are okay just waiting. The international chains (McDonald's included) have picked up on this, and consequently the seating areas at Peru's McD's, Starbucks, etc. are often double the size of those in the States - they know people here will relax and hang out long after their coffees are gone.

Having lived in the Peruvian context for so long, the story about that New York McDonald's was laughable to me, even absurd. Sitting around chatting for three hours over one shared plate of French fries? Sounds normal to me, and I hope those elderly Koreans keep showing up to remind America that time and money aren't what's most important.