On The Road...In Peru

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Last night I came as close as Ill probably ever come to living a scene from my all-time favorite autobiographical novel: On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. In short, like Sal Paradise, the wandering protaganist in the book, I took several forms of high-speed, questionably safe transportation east through unknown terrain with absolutely no clue of how I would get back. Was it terrifying? Yes. Was it thrilling? Most definitely. And did I learn something along the way? Youd better believe it.

To explain: Through my volunteer work I have become friends with a 21-year-old Peruvian woman who speaks English. I cannot disclose her name or any other information that would identify her here because--and Im not sure if my facts are entirely correct but this is how I understand it--the nonprofit organizations in Peru (like anywhere) are very competitive with each other with respect to limited resources and volunteers; Because she works for one organization but wants to start another, she has to be careful about what she says. Anyways, we have been talking a lot about this and that, and one day she asked me if I knew people in the US who might be able to donate about 50 used books (in Spanish and English) to start a library at a school for poor children who live in the highlands of Peru located about 8 hours from Lima. Apparently, her family is from this very poor town and she wants to find some way to help this community. I thought 50 used books sounded doable and agreed to work on collecting them when I got back to the States. In what I perceive to be a display of gratitude, she invited me to her house to meet her parents and three younger brothers.

My friend offered to come to my house in Surco to escort me to her house--and I gladly took her up on this given that I had no idea where I was going and no clue as to how to navigate the very intimidating bus system in Lima (it makes the CTA--even bus #36!!!--seem luxurious, nice-smelling, and timely). She warned me that her house was far but somehow--perhaps it is simply a matter of getting lost in translation--I didnt exactly listen to HOW far. Well, a two-mile walk, two bus rides (30-45 minutes each), and one mototaxi ride (essentially a bike with a motor and a two person seat in back) later, I found myself...well, actually, I have no idea where I found myself. All I know is that we were traveling east and my ears where popping like crazy, which I take to mean that we had ascended into the mountains. I also know that it was light outside when we began the trip and definitely dark outside when we reached our destination. Questions kept running through my head: How in the world was I going to find my way home? In the dark? In two buses and a mototaxi? More importantly, WWJK (what would jack kerouac) do?

The most insane part of this entire story is that this 21-year-old woman TRAVELS THIS ROUTE ALONE EVERY MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. Each morning she leaves her house at 6AM and travels 2 hours to Lima to work; after work she goes to university until 10-11PM, and then she makes the trek home arriving around 1AM and falls into bed to start all over again the next day. Do you want to know how she spends her Sundays? She does the whole traveling thing again to the city and spends the day volunteering. I mean, really? Sometimes Im lucky if I walk across the street to CVS on my Sundays.

Unfortunately, I didnt have all that much time to visit, given that I had to find my way back before morning. But I did get to meet her really sweet twin 13-year-old brothers, one of them who made us dinner, and we watched the Simpsons (in Spanish, sheesh I cant get away from that show) and my friend proudly showed me her artwork and photos of her family. She had warned me up front that her family "has no money." Since I have become used to the conditions that the abuelos live in, which I have described here, nothing these days surprises me. And, I actually thought she and her family have a really nice and comfortable house--but it was nothing compared to what anyone I know has in the States. It makes me realize how much I have. And its hard to express just how touching it was to be invited in to spend the evening because she was slightly self-conscious about her home. I have friends who I have known for years that I have never invited into my own house just because it seems like such an intimate gesture. And yet she was willing to share all this with me. She was trying to express gratitude for the books, but it somehow was I who felt overwhelming gratitude toward what she was giving me in return.

My friend impressed upon me that her father believes that anyone can do whatever they want to do as long as they work hard, and as such her parents have invested most of the familys money into the childrens education. Yet even though she keeps grueling hours and travel schedule and studies for hours every day and will graduate with high marks from university in a year, my friend is nervous about her future simply because, as she explained, there is not nearly the opportunity for employment in Peru that there is in the States. She told me what she makes in one month working as a teacher--essentially, it comes out to about $80 a month. I feel the need to add a disclaimer here and say I know it is futile to compare salaries in two countries in which the cost of living is so very different--I can already hear the argument with Greg and Kristin! 😊 But you dont have to have an economics degree to ponder just what it would mean to live on $80 a month.

My friend is very blunt about her worries but she remains hopeful about her future. And, in the coincidence to end all other coincidences, it turns out that my friend wants to start a nonprofit, NGO (non governmental organization) to support women and children in her parents hometown in the highlands. Its a coincidence given my background and WS degree, ESPECIALLY because I never told her just what it was that I was studying (I mean, come on, my Spanish isnt THAT good. Sometimes I cant even explain it in English!). The books are just the first step. Ulimately, she wants to start an organization that will empower women to earn their own money so that they can take care of their children and can be self-sufficient. She describes herself as having nothing, and yet wants to spend her life helping other women who have less than she does. Does this sound completely and eye-rollingly idealistic? Of course. But entirely inspiring at the same time? To me, very.

Ill finish here with my trip home, as Im sure the suspense is killing everyone. Basically, I glanced at my watch and, realizing the time, panicked, and in a totally un-Kerouac move told my friend that there was no way I could figure out the complicated bus system, but that I needed cab home--a real cab this time, none of this mototaxi business. I had enough life-changing adventure for one night. So we walked across the street and woke up her neighbor who--as fate would have it--owned a cab! Two hours later I was delivered safely to my door. Jack would surely have considered me a wimp, but hey, what else was I to do?

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