Mythical and Dangerous White Male or American Volunteer? You be the judge.

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This week, i have no narrative line or really extensive discription of a trip to provide a framework for my blog. so, i´ll give some of the high points. hope you enjoy.

Work last week was really good. The vaccination campaign will last until the end of June, so i´ll be a part of the whole thing. very cool. work has been fun and interesting, but it has certainly had its low points. i know i promised high points, but what are the high points without the low points? the language barrier is becoming more real for me. its an important lesson to continually re-learn that sometimes, no matter how much you want to, you can´t do something right away. for me right now, that´s expressing myself and understanding others completely. i know it takes times, but knowing that doesn´t ultimately eliminate the frustration. oh limitations.

friday night, i had the night shift at the emergency ward of the hospital. this entails working from 8pm to 7am. unlike in los EEUU, friday in the emergency room of the only hospital in Ayacucho, Peru was not that busy. My friend Nargess and I only saw a few cases, and the rest was down time. I get to go to the Obstetrics Emergency Room for night shift this week. i hear it´s amazing. the last person who went saw 7 live births. welcome to a health internship, i guess.

saturday, after getting some rest, my friends and i went to Quinua, a village 2.000 ft. higher than Ayacucho (11,000). this village is known for its strongly traditional/Quechuan people and customs. this trip was not organized by the organization. we just wanted to go hiking and horseback riding, so we hopped a small van with at least 17 people in it, and went out of town for an hour. the last battle for Latin American independence was fought on the Pampas above Quinua. We hiked there and took horses to a nice waterfall up in the mountains. After that, we hiked down as the sun set, took pictures, and then got a hostal room. we had a good time hanging out and stuff and then hit up the markets and restaurants the next day....Cipro has now been used.

highlight of the Quinua excursion:

my friend Patrick and i, after having left the rest of the group at the market, were walking up a road to see about purchasing some sweet sweaters we had seen earlier (they were not for sale this time? no entiendo por que). well, we were alone on this road and we saw a small Quechuan woman with gray hair and two children, presumably her grandchildren. As we drew near, the woman removed her eyes from their straightforward glance, looked me square in the eyes with a frighteningly angry expression, grabbed her two children near to hear, and barked what could only sound like a curse in Quechua. patrick and i walked about ten feet more and looked at each other, saying sheepishly: "well that was scary."

so we´re in town the next night going out to dinner. we mention this story to our program director, a native of Peru, well-informed of the Quechuan traditions. she died laughing when we mentioned this. she proceeded to tell us of a Quechuan folk tale: all people of the mountains of Peru must guard themselves against the strange tall man, with fair skin, and light hair (any hair below jet black). the reason is that this man, a demon of course, is known to steal the souls of children with his glance and use the fat of old people to make his exotic soaps and oils (Fight Club, anyone?). when in contact with this man, you must confront him with a specific phrase that is to keep him at bay....i wish i was making this up. but i was wearing a hat, and i´m really tall here, and my skin is far from the typical Peruvian hue. I guess i fit the discription of a demonic, soul-stealing, human soap maker....I later found out that locals killed a man in the highlands of Peru a few years back because he also seemed to fit this discription. huh. how ´bout that?

but rest assured, it´s only the super super super traditional people who believe this. i was only lucky enough to run into one.

well, i hope the insanity of that last story gives you a taste of the colorful past and present of traditional Peruvian culture.

As for my Spanish abilities, starting tomorrow, I am meeting local students to speak in Spanish for an hour and English for an hour over coffee. It´s a give and take setup, and it´s bound to improve my comprehension and speaking ability. i´ll do this twice a week from here on out. awesome. thanks for the idea, Rosie.

Stay in touch, everyone. I miss you all, and would love to hear about how things are going.

-js

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Comments

[BenJammin']

Dude...
Dude...I miss you.

[Katie M.]

ahahahaha...
i always knew you were secretly a demon :) that aside, the trip sounds so fascinating. keep having great and interesting experiences, and be sure not to offend anyone that gives you the evil eye...

[nana Rie]

family
I am so thrilled that you have had this opportunity because visiting as a tourist would never compare to what you are experiencing. The family is all doing fine and I love your blog.

[tjp765]

Huancayo Ayacucho Ambato
Just read your story, that's a classic. Anyhows, how do you like the area. I am thinking of taking Lima - Cuzco via Huancayo - Ayacucho - Ambato - Cuzco. Do you have any comments or suggestions. How do you like the area? the people? scenery? Tim

[Fran Stafford]

love and miss you, demon brother! :)

[johnstafford55]

i assume you are making the lima-cusco-machu picchu trip, no? well i would fully recommend stopping through this area of the country. i think if you only go to lima or cusco, you will only find the peru that everyone can see in pictures. this part of peru is full of tradition and a whole different depth of culture. i think it would add a new and deeper dimension to your trip. come to ayacucho.