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Published: December 28th 2010
I arrived in Lima on 21 December feeling in a pretty sorry state. I arrived thinking 'What am I doing here? Why have I not just left my family in the UK for Christmas but also José and everyone back in Paraguay too?' My goodbye on Monday night was particularly difficult, something that I had not expected. It was almost a tearful event, but I don't cry, so it was ok.
So I get to the hostel, a lovely place in Barranco, Lima and realise that someone has been through my bag during my journey... Not good. Luckily, the crazy person had only taken my make-up and my suncream. Make-up, fine, I can do without. Suncream I will have to buy as I at this moment in time, have a very red nose!
At the hostel I was wondering what to do... I decided to go find a café, buy a few things to eat and try to ring Rosa.
I got through to Rosa and everything became much more positive.
For those reading who do not know, Rosa is my role model. Last year I spent 4 weeks working in Laderas, a poor area of Lima, building a soup kitchen with a group of people from my university for a charity called Project Peru. Rosa is the star who runs all of these soup kitchens. I guess she is in her 50's alhough I would never ask, and she has 4 children all of whom have good jobs and most have families of their own now. She works everyday from 6am until 2pm in the kitchens and then in the afternoon she works in the local church where people come to see her with their problems to ask for help. She does this every day. She is always happy and she is unbelievably welcoming.
I arrange to go to the soup kitchen the neXt day to see everyone and then have a walk around Barranco before an early night.
The next morning I set off to Laderas at about 9.30am. I was debating whether to take a taxi or get the local buses. I decided the bus would be more fun and less expensive. I got a taxi to the centre and then the buses I remembered from last year. It took ages. About two hours.
The thing is, the whole transport system in Lima is changing. They now have an impressive new bus line which runs along a bus lane, making it increbibly quick. Unfortunately, I didn't take this bus. Also, further up to the north of the centre they are building a new viaduct which will completely transform the the traffic problems, but at the moment it is making things worse.
Anyway. I arrived at soup kitchen number one (not the one I helped build but the one where we went for tea every day before building) and the ladies outside recognised me immediately, Maria and Carmela. I was give thousands of hugs and asked loads of questions and then taken up to the soup kitchen which we built where I had my first lunch. Afterwards I was taken to the lower soup kitchen where I was given more food! Rosa arrived and told me I was to stay with them and some one would come and pick me up in the morning and help me with my things. I didn't argue!
The next day Nena came in a taxi at about 10am and we made our way to Laderas having a good chat on the way. We went straight to the children's home where many chickens and boxes proceded to arrive. There was going to be a Christmas hand out to the families of the area. All the mothers were queueing up outside the building while we got everything organised inside. Then they were shouted in one by one to collect their box and their chicken (frozen, not live). This took a good few hours and it was great to see how happy all the people were after receiving their parcel. Afterwards we went for lunch at the kitchen, arroz con pollo, my favorite.
In the evening I went to the little church next to the soup kitchen for mass (yes, I went to mass!). First of all, the children sang Christmas carols in Spanish, French and English, very impressive and very sweet with their very Peruvian pronunciation of all the words. The church was full of people, more children than any other age group and a servere lack of men, as is the demograpchic in the areas – mostly single mothers with many children. I can't forget to mention the dogs too. Dogs going to church – very strange.
The service was quite chaotic with children running around playing but only Rosa seemed to mind, running after them trying to make them settle and be quite. Needless to say it didn't work, they all knew they were going to receive hot chocolate and cake after the service. Before the snack there was a small pay acted out by the children, of the nativity in which a real baby was used for baby Jesus. It really was a lovely evening.
The next day I went to the market with Francisco, one half of the couple of French volunteers I was staying with in Laderas. I needed to replace my suncream and get some cash. After being successful in both of these tasks we headed back through the market but were stopped by the police... who wished us a merry Christmas gave us a hug and a kiss and thanked us for our work in Laderas. This was a relief as I did not have my passport on me and expected them to be asking for documents!
After another lunch at the soup kitchen I had a nap before heading down to the church where Rosa works. Earlier that day I had given a small donation of money to the people and Rosa had asked me to visit her in the church afterwards. In the small room which she occupies, the floor was covered in carrier bags full of food. Rosa told me that this was what she had bought with my donation and that people would come and collect them that afternoon. So I sat there with Rosa and handed out the bags of food. It was such an amazing feeling that what my family and I had given had gone so far.
The was another mass that evening which I attended (yes, church two days in a row!) after which the celebrations began. A brass band began playing and walking around all the streets in the area and fireworks were exploding left, right and centre. My hosts and I headed back to the flat to have Christmas dinner with the landlords downstairs. Christmas dinner is at midnight on the 24th. We ate turkey and drank wine before eating pannetone and drinking hot chocolate. The daughter of the landlords, probably about 10 years old, received two presents, a barbie and a jenga style game. And she was happy, very happy.
I woke late on Christmas morning when Rosa knocked on the door of the flat with a huge plate full of pork for us to share and told us we were to go to Isabelle's for lunch. She told us how a lady from the area had knocked on her door crying that morning saying that she had nothing to give to her children and no food. They had invited her in and shared their Christmas with her, sayin that it was ok, she was lucky because she had the soup kitchens and the church service in the area and kind people who volunteered to look after her, however when Rosa had young children such services did not exist and they went without.
Christmas lunch was lovely. Cerbiche, a Peruvian dish of fish in a spicy, lemon sauce was the starter followed by chicken and green beans, and of course, Inca Cola. It was the perfect amount of food. At the table we talked about our families, Christmas in our countries (the Frenchies and I) and were taught how Pisco is definitely Peruvian and has nothing to do with Chile (by a very patriotic young man).
That evening I wandered down to Rosa's house having never been before and I was introduced to some members of her family. She explained to me how it had taken so many years for her house to be built and how they had started by buying the odd bag of cement, then some iron rods, then piling up stones for the foundations and over the years they had build the now three storey building. It was a really nice home. After a while Michel arrived, the boss of the building sites and Rosa's son. We had a good chat and exchanged contact details before I headed back to bed. I had to get up early to go to the beach.
Rosa, Nena, the French couple and I went to the beach at Santa Rosa, north of Lima. It was a lovely day, great seeing Nena and Rosa relax. Especially Rosa who seemed much more strained and tired than the last time I was there. Her arthritis bothering her a lot.
At the end of the day it was time to head to the bus station to catch my bus to Trujillo. It was difficult to say goodbye once again and I promissed to return after my time in Paraguay.
My Peruvian Christmas was wonderful, sad, emotional and exciting all at the same time. Seeing the people so happy and so thankful just to receive a box of food for their family was both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The people were willing to share everything with me, their houses (I had three different offers of somewhere to stay), their food, their experiences, everything they had. Christmas is not about presents fo them, it is about being kind and welcoming and spending time with family and it was great to be a part of it.
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Natali
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I love your blog teacher. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!