After 1 week of teaching

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March 3, 2006

It’s Friday night, and I’ve finished my first week of teaching. The morning class is going well, and I enjoy it, even if it means I have to get up at 6. The evening class has shrunk from about 16 to only 5 today; I’m not sure that one is going to survive. I really struggle with my Spanish. I have to sit down with a dictionary before every lesson and translate parts of it into Spanish, word by word. You can’t explain how to use a verb or use pronouns in English, to people that don’t speak English!!! Mostly everybody is pretty patient, and I get away with a lot because I’m “gringo”, which is not meant in a derogatory way at all, usually.

I have to go to an office building on the other side of the city for the evening class. It’s something I’m not crazy about, because the return trip is after dark, and you never know how long you might have to wait for a taxi. But I don’t think I’ll have to do it alone, so I guess it’s ok. A taxi ride is an adventure in itself. I don’t know why there aren’t accidents on every corner. There are no traffic rules that I can tell, except one- which is to lay on the horn at every intersection, every person, and every other vehicle, and the street is chuck full of taxis and mototaxis going every which way. Sometimes I just close my eyes because I can’t stand a close call every 5 seconds!! I’ve only seen one accident!! I got a chuckle out of today’s taxi ride. We got in the taxi and drove for about 5 minutes, and the driver pulled up to a gas station and held his hand out for the fare-5 soles. He handed the 5 soles to the attendant, and got about 2 squeezes of the pump handle worth of gas. 5 soles is about $1.75. Gas is horrifically expensive here; I bet he got about one cupful of gas. And off we went. The streets are horrible, potholes and bumps and cracks, and if you get away from the city center a bit, there are HUGE holes, and it changes from paved to dirt to paved. So, to add to all the horn blowing and driving on both sides of the road, all the cars are trying to avoid potholes!

I tried to avoid starting this entry with a food story, but I did make 4 trips to the dairy shop for a quart of milk yesterday. First trip- too early. Second trip, the proprietor told me the milk isn’t delivered till after noon. Third trip, closed. Fourth trip SUCCESS!! Each trip is down and up a hill, and 3 flights of stairs.

If I had to sum up what I think of Peru and Ayacucho so far, I’d have to say, what strikes me are the contrasts. People in expensive business suits carrying computers walking past beggars on the sidewalk and past dozens of women selling fruit, vegetables, drinks (warm,ycchh)and cheap candy, from carts and wheelbarrows. If you walk down the street, you get the impression that it’s a poor place, but every once in a while a door to the sidewalk is open for some reason, and if you peek in you see luxurious patios, flowers, fountains, cobblestone driveways and courtyards, and two story porches with beautiful wrought iron railings. It’s such a contrast to what you see on the street, it’s almost eerie- you can’t quite believe that the two landscapes-inside the gate, and outside the gate- can exist side by side, like two totally different worlds. I see women on the street selling fruit and vegetables, sitting on the dirty, dusty curb, in worn clothing doing the most exquisite needlework I’ve ever seen-sweaters doilies, scarves, etc. It’s noisy, dusty, hectic, and very colorful.
So… that’s it for tonight. I have a Spanish lesson in the morning- yes they work on Saturday. My tutor gave me the oddest look last weekend when I explained I really didn’t want to work on Saturday…..like how do you ever expect to learn Spanish if you take Saturday off?. I should be getting my laundry back. I finally sent it off after I got a lecture from Thijs about how the 5 or 6 soles I might pay to have my laundry washed, dried, and folded would feed a family for 2 days!

I miss everybody and am a bit lonely, but I am fine. Sandy says Tom knows somebody doing some kind of research work in Ayacucho, so I might try and find her.

Love to all, Kathy

PS make sure you are checking webshots for the photos.email me if you don´t have the address

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