a little homesick...

So I think that maybe I (Lindsay) have been a little humbled this past week and a half or so by realizing that I too am susceptible to homesickness. Up until this point I have just been excited about everything new and different but perhaps now the reality of actually living here for 7 months is sinking in. I miss my friends and family (duh, I miss you all) and definitely feel slightly out of balance without the large support network I am used to at home. I just need to keep reminding myself that this is part of the process and certainly one of the reasons I did this: to challenge myself and live outside of my comfort zone for awhile.

That said, I want to share a few anecdotes from our daily life here.

For those of you who don't know, we still do not have a stove in our kitchen. "Cooking" usually consists of making sandwiches or salads or boiling eggs in our electric tea kettle. This past weekend however, we got the exciting news that a friend is able to lend us her gas stove and (empty) gas tank. Gas tanks here (even empty ones) are actually worth more than a stove so as soon as we heard this, we jumped on the offer. Sunday, Sara and I had what we considered a fairly comical though somewhat typical Ayacucho afternoon. We hopped on a public bus to go to our friend Roxana's house about 20 minutes away from downtown Ayacucho. Taking a bus is always an adventure in itself yet this was also our first time venturing to her house alone. However we made it just fine and then proudly rode back on the bus with our gas tank. When we got back to town it was almost 4:00 and we still had to do laundry. We pretty much ran to the roof washed all of our clothes and hung them up just in time for it to begin to rain. grrrrr. We actually ran through the center of town back to our apartment to take our clothes down. We already stand out here but two gringas sprinting down the street in the pouring rain is just something else. Perhaps this all sounds trivial, but it ended up being an exhausting afternoon for us and certainly out of the ordinary from our lives in the states. Next weekend we will venture out to Roxana's cousin Monica's house to get the stove, probs harder.

Finally we need to call the gas company and

have them come fill our tank...our goal is to have a functioning kitchen by Thanksgiving??? Despite my complaints of not having close friends, we do have a few friends and have invited them to eat some Thanksgiving food with us on thursday. We have no idea how many ingredients we will actually be able to find and are relying on one friend to make us a turkey...but we are going to try!

Not much more news for now other than I started teaching english a few evenings a week and on Saturday afternoons to make some money. I have only had two classes so far but I think I like it.

Finally, I thought I would leave you with a few examples of the KIVA stories we have been doing here at FINCA. Almost every day now, I am interviewing FINCA socias about their last loan cycle and their lives. Just in the past two weeks I have learned an amazing amount about these women's lives and seen lots of laughter and tears as they tell their stories. Of course, for more information I encourage you to check out kiva.org and you find FINCA Peru under the list of KIVA partners. However, since we don't have many pictures this week, I decided to post a few examples!

Isabel has 2 children, ages 8 and 12 and has been with FINCA Perú for about 6 years. She has a small food stand in which she makes and sells typical food from Ayacucho such as puca picante (potatoes with a spicy beet sauce), mondongo (hearty soup made from cow stomach and choclo) and chicharron (pork simmered with onions and spices for a few hours). Her husband sells household items and now is able to have an assistant. She and her husband have both learned a lot from the talks at FINCA Perú such as how to improve their businesses, be responsible and how to treat clients better. Someday she dreams of buying land, building a house and opening up a restaurant at her house,

Genoveva has been with FINCA Perú for 5 years and invested her most recent loan in her traveling produce business. Every week she travels 9 hours, both ways, to the city of Monterrico in the jungle to sell her fruits and vegetables. She has 7 children and 8 grandchildren. Despite business being a little slow right now, FINCA Perú has helped Genoveva save enough money to buy some land. She likes the positive energy at FINCA Perú and the work trainings. Genoveva says that she is really happy right now and wants to continue providing for her kids.

Sandra is 22 years old and is a single mother of two (ages 5 and 6). She used her most recent loan to invest in her business as a street vender. Sandra sells mostly sweets in the main plaza of Ayacucho. Though she admits that business has been slow lately, since joining FINCA Perú, Sandra has been able to increase sales and earn enough to better provide for her children. She likes the advice she has gotten from FINCA Peru regarding investing money, how to work hard, and how to be punctual with loan payments. Her dream is to one day start her own business selling clothing.

Hasta luego!

On My Own and Todos Santos

Hola todos! Whew...this past week and a half were quite eventful! Last week started off with the Lindsay getting a nasty cold that kept her in bed and out of work for about 3 days which means that I was on my own! Luckily we had made a script for our classes that week so I could use that to help me teach (aka pretty much read it word for word but by the end of the week I could improvise a little). The kids were all very sweet and patient about my lack of Spanish skills. We ended up playing a lot of chase games because it was a pretty short lesson...we also did a lot of map coloring! Que divertido!

Besides teaching on my own I also had to do the shopping which means that I had to brave the market by myself! The names of fruits and vegetables are vocabulary words that I quickly learned so the market wasn't really as scary as I thought it would be. I also perfected my "I'm skeptical about that price and think you're trying to rip me off because I'm a gringa" face. Although it may have only saved my a sol or two it gave me some much needed confidence to conquer Ayacucho alone. I even had the guts to hang out with a few of our friends without Lindsay there! Crazy! I'm being all kinds of social here that I rarely even do in the states. Needless to say my Spanish skills almost doubled last week! I wish I could say that made everything easier but, of course, the more I learn the more I realize I don't know. Ahh the joys of learning another language!

Another sweet sunset as viewed from our roof!

The end of the week settled down a little aka Lindsay got better and we were once again joined at the hip. This past weekend was Halloween and Día de los Muertos so we got Monday and Tuesday off. We imagined that we would have lots of stories to tell about all of the activities but in reality we both took it pretty easy (I ended up with a case of traveler's guts at the end of the week and had to take antibiotics).

On Sunday we met up with another gringa we met here and two girls she's doing a language exchange with. The girls ended up being really nice and Lindsay finagled an invitation to the cemetery the next day. Although we knew Monday wasn't Día de los Muertos, we weren't sure we wanted to brave the crowds on the actual holiday.

The cemetery

We met our new friend, Roxana, (that's right we have friends here) at the cemetery. Part of the road leading to the front gates was closed for all of the flower stands that had set up for the holiday. Inside the gates were huge structures full of what they call "nichos" which are the slots for the bodies. The front of the slots is painted, carved and/or inscribed like headstones in the US. There were quite a few people cleaning the nichos and putting fresh flowers in them.

A "nicho"

Waiting with flowers

The inside of the cemetery

Roxana also showed us the "crematorium" where they would burn bodies if their relatives didn't pay the "rent" on the nicho (they don't do this anymore but people still put flowers outside the building if their relative was burnt there). Even though we missed the main festivities, it was really interesting to see the cemetery. There was also a large festival/carnival nearby but we failed to find it. Oh well, maybe next year...

This family was offering a song to their loved one

The flower stands outside the cemetery

After the cemetery, Roxana invited us to her family's house for lunch. Always curious about the daily lives of Ayacuchanos we eagerly accepted. Her house is about a 20 minute bus ride away from our apartment so it was nice to see another part of the city. She lives right on the edge of a gorgeous valley called Watatas. Roxana showed us her beautiful garden complete with a fig and an avocado tree! We also walked around the valley little while we waited for lunch.

The valley!

Our new friend!!!

Here's another one just for fun!

Lunch as the traditional soup Mondongo. It is made with cow's stomach and choclo (corn with REALLY big kernels and a drier texture) and topped with yierba bueana (if it's not spearmint then it's a very close relative) Since my stomach still wasn't top notch I didn't eat much of the stomach but the broth and choclo were both really good. We ate lunch outside by the garden with Roxana's parents, her brothers and sisters and her cousins. It was a wonderful family meal and I can't wait to go back!

Turns out Roxana has an amazing garden behind her house complete with a few avocado and fruit trees! It was magical.

We thought we would make it out some on Tuesday but we had too many household chores to take care of. Our day began with washing our laundry on the roof (note to self: the sun is REALLY intense between 11am and 1pm here), checking the internet (barely worked), trying to call Aunt Jan (apparently international calling here is as spotty as the speed of the internet) and working on some stuff for FINCA. Basically a typical day for the end of a four day weekend.

We finally got some training on the program we're teaching, Aflatoun. Turns out we really like Aflatoun's philosophy! The only downside is that the training confirmed our suspicions that the script/material we were working with doesn't follow the Aflatoun model. However, we are re-inspired to work on the material the last 5 weeks of Aflatoun.

That just about sums up our last week or so. Our life is always full of fun chores that end up being more complicated/time consuming then they should be because we're in a foreign country! It's exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. We don't have much planned in the coming weeks but hanging out with new friends and continuing the trials and tribulations of daily life in Ayacucho!

Besos y abrazos de Ayacucho!

New Adventures in Ayacucho

So it has been quite some time since our last post, apologies to all. Since we last wrote we have really settled into our life here in Peru but not without the expected ups and downs of living abroad. I believe it was the first week after we last posted we visited a FINCA socia in her home for lunch. It was a beautiful experience but certainly one of the more shocking experiences we have had so far. Her house was up in the hills of Ayacucho, with an awesome view of the mountains but also a dismal view of life for many here in Peru. The house was more of a compound where her and all of her children and grandchildren lived together with spotty electricity, no indoor plumbing, and plenty of mud. The "kitchen" was a fire with a few metal rods for pots and pans to sit on.

Sara with the ninos

The kitchen!

The courtyard

They prepared us the meal from scratch, which in this case meant slaughtering a few guinea pigs (cuy), skinning them, washing them, and frying them up on the "stove." Sara and I spent most of the afternoon playing with the numerous grandchildren running around while the adults cooked the cuy as well as some potatoes and soup. They were thrilled to show us photo albums of the numerous gringos they have hosted. While we were certainly taken aback by the sanitary conditions, or lackthereof, I think it was a really good introduction and insight into the way many of the FINCA socias live. Eating cuy was an inevitable experience which honestly wasn't that bad, though I probably won't be ordering it any time soon. Also, we made some new friends and even convinced their oldest granddaughter, Dorkas, to attend our classes the next week (which she did!)

Freshly slaughtered cuy being cleaned

Last weekend we had an exciting excursion to the small town of Quinoa, 45 minutes from Ayacucho and 600 meters higher in the Andes. It was beautiful countryside and a nice break from the dusty city. At many view points you can look down and see Ayacucho below, it is really cool. While for us the highlights of quinoa are the scenery, the notable tourist attraction is giant, phallic, obelisk on top of a hill that commemorates Peru's last battle for independence against the Spaniards.

The obelisk!

View from the foot of the obelisk

Girlfriends!!!

We're looking forward to a four day weekend because of the celebrations surrounding All Saints' Day. We're not really sure what this entails but we've heard there is lots of traditional food and religious parades (not that special considering they happen almost everyday here).

I'm not going to say much more today other than I was sick for a few days this week. I had kind of nasty cold that kept me out of work for a few days. I'm all better now but you all better look forward to Sara's next post about having to venture out in Ayacucho alone for a few days! Ahhhhhh!

besos

Settling In

The biggest news of this past week, as some of you may have already heard, is that we got an apartment! And then we signed a six month lease...Love you family! The apartment is barely half a block from the main plaza and a 10 minute walk away from FINCA. Besides the wonderful location, one of my (Sara) favorite parts of our apartment is our wonderful landlords, Miriam, Hugo y their most precious little boy, Pierro. They are one of many new families we have attached ourselves to in South America.

Our only furniture!!!

Just washing some vegetables after work, no big deal.

The first day we moved in they took us to a crazy outdoor market to buy a table and chairs, our first furniture! They are actually working on some things in the apartment as I write this aka showing Lindsay how to properly peel a mango, telling us the best places to eat roast chicky Ayacucho style and how to call a house from a cell phone (it's trickier than you think). We're paying a little more than we had hoped  but the apartment is really safe, pretty nice by Peruvian standards, actually maybe the nicest apartment I will be in for a while and has 24/7 hot water (this is a REALLY big deal here). The two downsides are that the "kitchen" is actually just a sink with some shelving and there's a rooster outside my window, I guess we'll be able to manage.

My room

Lindsay's room

Where we get hot water 24/7

It has been quite a process setting up house here. Since we have two and a half hours for lunch we have been using that time to run errands for the house. Normally this would consist of going to maybe 2 or 3 different stores but here in Ayacucho this means braving the blocks long central market scene. I can't even begin to count how many different stores we've been to in the last week, and there is a specific store for EVERYTHING! Since we wouldn't be proper residents of Ayacucho if we didn't haggle, Lindsay has been taking the role of barterer. She has been doing an incredible job while saving us many a sole (Peruvian currency). Unfortunately a few of our savings have been squandered by our poor decision making in terms of buying the cheapest item possible (not recommended in Ayacucho). We ended up "splurging" for the $7 thermos instead of the $3 thermos and are dreading the impending upgrade to $15 dollar sheets from the $7 polyester ones we bought earlier this week. We now have an electric tea kettle, enough dishes and silverware for four people and some thermoses for our morning tea/coffee. We absolutely cannot wait to start cooking for ourselves and have already had a few salads! This is an exciting week for us!

Our first meal in our new home!

My after dinner scene

Besides the fun and excitement of setting up house here, we are also starting to make some friends!!! I can't even explain how exciting this is for both us, not that we're even close to being tired of each other. The nightlife scene is nowhere near as crazy as Valparaíso but, of course, Lindsay and I managed to find the more happening places. This past weekend we got some solid dancing in and even befriended a few people. We already attended a birthday party, met up with some people in the plaza and have an invitation to a party this weekend! Apparently people aren't already tired of a couple of cute gringas making a home in Ayacucho. There's also nothing like desperation, a little confidence and an outgoing friend like Lindsay to get the friend making process started. We are both channeling our study abroad friend making experiences and are incredibly grateful this isn't the first time either of us have lived abroad. It also helps that everyone here is extremely nice and excited to tell us about Ayacucho. Did I mention that we've already been invited to three different almuerzos in the next few weeks?

Sporting my sweet manta (convenient carrier that almost all the women use here)

The bathroom doubles as our laundry room

Dance parties and after dinner laundry are a norm in our house

As for work, the kids are as entertaining as ever! We are nearing our first week of solo teaching and I actually feel like we will be able to handle it. The woman who took over for the last volunteer has been helping us this week but yesterday we taught our first solo classes! I think it went better than expected and was impressed by how much the kids respected us. However, I'm not quite sure what will happen when our novelty wears off...Although teaching the classes is our primary job my favorite part, by far, is playing with the kids after class. They are all excited to interact with us in whatever capacity possible and LOVE playing games. Today I had the pleasure of receiving some volleyball lessons and then playing an intense game of chase (the only thing that ended the game was my hangover and decreased lung capacity given Ayacucho's elevation). I can't wait to see what kind of games they teach us throughout the next two months!

Despite the ups and downs of daily life in Ayacucho, we are really enjoying ourselves! Even in the short time we've been here, I know I am already a different person than the one who stepped off the airplane in Santiago. Let's hope I feel the same way after our first week of teaching the kids by ourselves!

Sending muchos besos y abrazos from our cozy apartment in Ayaucho,

Sara and Lindsay

first days in Ayacucho

Admittedly the last few days have been somewhat of a roller coaster of emotions, confusion, and excitement, but overall I think we are settling quite nicely in to our new life in Ayacucho. Since we had to start work on Tuesday we took advantage of Monday to try to get to know the city and seesome of the highlights. I continue to be blown away by the incredible views and the contrasts between the old and the new that seem to characterize this city. It is an old city, and for the most part, the people are pretty poor. At the same time, I can see that it is modernizing and growing rapidly. As Sara mentioned in the last post, the juxtaposition between the modern and traditional is perhaps most obvious by the way people are dressed.

Most of our challenges thus far stem from not having our own space yet. I know that might sound whiny given we have only been here a few days, but we are simply anxious to have access to a kitchen so that we can start eating vegetables (without getting sick) and start eating less rice/chicken/potato combos on a daily basis (though they

are always super tasty). The first few apartments we looked at we were shocked to see did not come with even a stove...so, we're still looking. However, I know that we will find the right apartment (or "mini" apartment) in time and for now we are doing great at our hostel that has, gasp, wifi AND 24 hour hot water. Super sweet.

Yesterday, we started work with FINCA - yay! For those of you who don't know much about FINCA Peru, it is a microfinance instution that aims to improve the lives of women in the Ayacucho region. FINCA employs a communal banking model (developed by Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grammeen Bank) in which a group of individuals are collectively responsible for their individual loans. Women (ok, and some men) come from all over the region to obtain individual or group loans to start small businesses, expand current businesses, or make home improvements. The "socias"(clients) are required to meet weekly or bi-weekly for training and support in using and repaying their loans. As time goes on we will certainly give more details and observations about FINCA! Below are pictures of the FINCA complex and one of the socias.

Our job for the first two and half months or so, is actually to teach the children of the clients. We are teaching classes based on the AFLATOUN curriculum which emphasizes saving for the future, protecting the environment, and recognizing their role in the greater global community. The lesson plans are already made but we are expected to spice things up with extra games, visuals etc...This week Sara and I are co-teaching with FINCA staff member, Jenny, but next week we will be given the reins! Honestly the last two days have been long and we see that this is going to be hard work. Children's classes are in the afternoon (2:30-5:30) but we are expected to also work from 8am - 12 every day like the rest of the staff and help them with various other projects. Here are some of our kids playing and counting their savings for this week.

I think this post has gone on way too long, but I want to say one final thing. This is definitely a challenge and will continue to be. But it seems that every time something gets frustrating, something equally exciting reminds us why we are here and how freaking cool this place is!

Lots of love from Ayacucho

We're home!

Well, we made it to Ayacucho safe and sound! Having splurged for luxury bus tickets (Cruz del Sur) as a result of the numerous reports of the grueling 10 hour journey through the mountain passes, we thought we were in for the ride of our lives. Much to our surprise and confusion the bus ride was completely uneventful, so much so that we probably didn't even need the Dramamine we took as we left Lima. Oh well...maybe when we trek to Huancavelica (notoriously challenging to get to from Ayacucho) we'll bust out the Dramamine again. Our guesthouse is just a few blocks away from the main plaza and has a wonderful little courtyard, as well as stunning views of the city and mountains that surround us.

The view just outside our door

Our breakfast spot

 After resting and refreshing, we headed to the Plaza de Armas (the main square) to find some lunch and see the city a little. Ayacucho is definitely like nowhere I (Sara) have been before. It's dusty, gritty and surrounded by gorgeous mountains. There are little old women wearing traditional indigenous clothes walking around with their children dressed in jeans and t-shirts. It's obviously a poorer city but it's not depressing. The people here are as nice as ever! After a short tour we retreated to our room to relax.

As we were hanging out in the room, I was feeling a little apprehensive about this grand move I had just made. Chile and Lima were new and different but not too far out of my comfort zone where as Ayacucho just feels really different. The reality of making a home here and beginning our "work" was starting to sink in. I was worrying about finding a place to live, not really speaking the language and wondering how all of this was going to work out. Apparently all I had to do to quell my fears was look out the window where I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen in quite a while.

There was even a glowing cross!

We scrambled out to the balcony, got hollered at by some guys in a neighboring building and then one of the employees here let us up on the roof where we reveled in the beauty of our new home! It sounds cheesy but something about that sunset pretty much erased all my worries.

Tomorrow we're off to explore our new city and find FINCA Peru! 

Hugs and kisses from our new home!

Lima!

In the past few months I can't even count the number of people who advised Sara and I to completely skip over Lima - we were told that it is dirty, ugly and boring and to not even bother. Yet such bad reviews only made us curious, and to our delight, Lima is pretty darn sweet! For one, Sara and I love Lima as we would any bustling chaotic city for the people watching, history, and architecture. Our first day in Lima we headed straight for the center to check out the Central Plaza (Plaza de las Armas) and the beautiful government buildings. We also spent hours traversing the downtown streets simply to check out the scene and found it both cleaner and more beautiful than expected. Also, the food in Lima is amazing - we have eaten everything from some good chinese food, classic ceviche, and a variety of tasty sandwiches. In contrast to Chilean cuisine, Peruvian food just has a bit more spice!

The Presidential Palace

Our hostel is located a neighborhood called Barranco, an upscale and beautiful area overlooking the ocean about 30 minutes by bus from downtown. One of the weird things about Lima is the constant haze that hangs over the city, admittedly making the views of the ocean sporadic but gorgeous when they appear.

The square just a few blocks from our hostel

Also interesting is the timing of our stay in Lima in that tomorrow are municipal elections in the city. There are campaign flyers everywhere and a strange antiquated ordinance in effect barring the sale of alcohol for like four days during the elections...

I wonder if Obama knows he supports this guy?

Finally, I want to emphasize how incredibly friendly people here have been. At one point we had an entire bus of people helping us get to where we were going downtown. Such kindness is extremely encouraging as we prepare to make Peru our home for the next six months or so. Tonight we head up to Ayacucho to begin our new life as volunteers with FINCA Peru.

Tourist!

Wish us luck on our ten hour journey through the Andes and settling into our new home!

Besos y Abrazos

Last Days in Chile!

We've been traveling for almost 3 weeks and are about to start the next phase of this crazy adventure...Ayacucho here we come!

Southern Chile was INCREDIBLE! As many of you may have seen on Facebook, the south really reminded me (Sara) of Washington-volcanoes, water, islands and cool, grey weather. We spent about 5 days there and started our trip in Puerto Varas. Puerto Varas is a small, touristy town on the shore of Lake Llanquihue and looks out at Osorno and Calbuco, the two more prominent volcanoes in the area. As we mentioned in our last post, we spent the first two days with Lindsay's friend who is working on an upcoming HBO series called Profugos - a narco-traffic action show set entirely in Chile. When we were there, he was scouting Alerce forests to shoot a particular chase scene (Alerce is an evergreen native to the southern Andes in Chile and Argentina).

We visited a lot of giant farms (fundos) to look for forest and they were all absolutely gorgeous with picturesque views of the Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake in Chile, and volcanoes. One interesting thing about southern Chile is that it was settled many many Germans. It was really interesting to meet the farmers who were of German decent and to see all the Germanic architecture.  Even though we spent a lot of time in the car it was quite an experience to drive all around the countryside. The last farm we visited was by far my favorite with their own small Alerce forests, lake front access and amazing views of the volcanoes Osorno and Calbuco.  They also bred horses and had the most incredible stable I have ever seen.

After Puerto Varas we went to Puerto Montt where we stayed with the family of the girls we stayed with in Valparaíso. They could not have been more welcoming from showing us around their home town to treating us to some of the best seafood I've ever had. I'm so grateful for the many new friends and new families I have met in Chile (You guys always have a home in the United States!). The first night they served us chupe de jaivas which is crab cooked with onions, garlic, cream and a little white wine then baked in a clay bowl with some cheese on top. YUM!

The next day we went to the island of Chiloé. It is the largest island in Chile just southwest of Puerto Montt. We ate oysters, learned about mythological characters of Chiloé and saw some beautiful beaches.

Our last day in Puerto Montt we went to family lunch at our friends' grandmother's house. We pretty much met all of their dad's side of the family! We ate curanto which is a kind of a seafood/meat soup. It has mussels, clams, chorizo, chicken, smoked pork ribs, potatoes and potato lard dumplings in it. It was all cooked in a big pot with some white wine and onions. The meat and seafood were covered with foil and then dumplings were set on top and the whole thing was left to steam for about an hour and a half. It was incredible!

Another highlight of our family lunch was the soccer game we played with our friends' sisters and cousins. Lindsay and I were on a team a few other people and we totally scored both of our team's goals!!! We ended up losing by one goal but either way Lindsay and I did the United States proud with our soccer skills!

Now we are back in Valparaíso enjoying our last day here and resting from last night's festivities aka my birthday celebration! Last night we had a wonderful sushi dinner with our hosts, then hung out at the apartment with friends. Cami made me some amazing tiramisu and we finished the night with some serious dancing at the gay bar! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Thank you so much Lindsay, Cami, Cotty and Mari! You guys are amazing!

Don't forget to check out more pics on facebook or Lindsay's picasa album!

Early tomorrow morning Lindsay and I are off to Lima, Peru. We are staying there for a few days and then busing to Ayacucho. I can't wait to see what Peru has in store for us!

xoxo