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