Our British mates + Bri and I (the two adopted Americans) in front of the national museum of Lima. Over the course of the month we spent with them, my English vocabulary increased by 100, I swear. However it came at the price of complete and utter misunderstandings, and general problems of communication. I honestly had more language issues with them than I did with the Peruvians! Despite our problems/disagreements about English, they willingly adopted us and made us part of our group. What a lovely bunch :) Os echo de menos!
This is Delia, my absolute favorite abuelita. The first day I met her, she showed me her photo album, filled with her being held or hugged by various tall, white, and handsome volunteers at Los Martincitos. As she is mute, every time she'd show me a different one of her hombres, she'd give me a huge high five and thumbs up (see above photo)! After Brianna and I were wooed in by her charming ways, she slyly pulled out a bag of hand-made jewelry and compltely haggled us! While we were more than happy to pay, the two braclets and necklace we bought were probably the most overpriced things we payed for on our whole trip. Man, did Delia know how to work us! We had a great time and were more than happy to pay, but were left quite bemused by this sly and coy business woman.
Brianna and I with one of our favorite abuelitos (notice how much we're bending over...as Brianna and everyone else that has visited Peru will testify, Peruvians are definitely some of smallest people ever! Direct proof - neither of us, nor our British friends that stayed with us, fit comfortably in any means of public transport. The seats only leave about a foot and a half of leg room!)
I'm sitting in my sister's house back in DC, trying to take myself back to Peru. Although I arrived for a quick visit to the area last Friday, I still feel, breathe, and think Peru.
While I didn't go into the trip with a lot of expectations, (because I truly did not know what to expect) our project and experience was beyond anything I could have imagined. Brianna and I are both so grateful to have had and shared this opportunity together. I believe we learned so much about ourselves and each other. The work we did and the time we spent in Villa El Salvador filled me with an inexplicable joy unique to anything I've experienced before. I think that this was mainly because after all these years of studying international development, learning about all the different types of development programs going around the world, I finally got to really immerse myself into the type of work and service that I've been really interested in for a number of years.
While I didn't go into the trip with a lot of expectations, (because I truly did not know what to expect) our project and experience was beyond anything I could have imagined. Brianna and I are both so grateful to have had and shared this opportunity together. I believe we learned so much about ourselves and each other. The work we did and the time we spent in Villa El Salvador filled me with an inexplicable joy unique to anything I've experienced before. I think that this was mainly because after all these years of studying international development, learning about all the different types of development programs going around the world, I finally got to really immerse myself into the type of work and service that I've been really interested in for a number of years.
Although I've had other service opportunities before, mainly for the Baha'i Faith, this experience was different because it took us out of our element, humbled us, gave us the opportunity to put our Spanish to use, and perhaps most importantly for me, it confirmed at an intellectual and spiritual level that international development is without a doubt the line of work I want to pursue. While I've never had many reservations, this confirmation was beyond reassuring.
While I'm sure I still would have experienced many of these things to a certain degree if we had only had a very basic level of Spanish, it would not have been the same. And for that, I'm very grateful.
One of the greatest gifts and things I really appreciated about this trip was being able to go into another culture and another country and be able to communicate with the people in their own language. So often I feel that we travel to other places and either expect those around us to speak our own language or are very fortunate that enough people speak English as a second language that communicating with others doesn't always require a lot of effort on our part. I'm not saying that this is a bad or negative thing, but undoubtedly you lose much of the nuances of the conversations and closer connections with the person when you can't truly describe what you want to say, or fully understand what they're telling you.
While I'm still not fluent, my Spanish has progressed far enough to communicate with others on an intimate, and more personal level. In Spain I really appreciate having this, but never more so than in Peru. Our trip presented us with so many opportunities to sit down and hear the struggles of the abuelos, who attended the elderly center where we worked. Many of them came to live in Villa El Salvador because they were expelled from their villages in the mountains of Peru. As a result, a group of them decided to settle on a piece of barren, dry land outside of Lima. Over time they built up their new home by fighting for potable water, sanitation, and electricity - almost always against their own government. They also endured for twenty years under the oppressive terrorist group, the Shining Path, who brutally massacred, raped and pillaged their own people. While difficult and shocking to hear about, learning about the Shining Path helped me to understand so much more about the Peruvians, what they have survived and how it has shaped them.
While I'm still not fluent, my Spanish has progressed far enough to communicate with others on an intimate, and more personal level. In Spain I really appreciate having this, but never more so than in Peru. Our trip presented us with so many opportunities to sit down and hear the struggles of the abuelos, who attended the elderly center where we worked. Many of them came to live in Villa El Salvador because they were expelled from their villages in the mountains of Peru. As a result, a group of them decided to settle on a piece of barren, dry land outside of Lima. Over time they built up their new home by fighting for potable water, sanitation, and electricity - almost always against their own government. They also endured for twenty years under the oppressive terrorist group, the Shining Path, who brutally massacred, raped and pillaged their own people. While difficult and shocking to hear about, learning about the Shining Path helped me to understand so much more about the Peruvians, what they have survived and how it has shaped them.
Spanish also allowed us to chat and interact with the twelve and thirteen year old kids that we were working with on their own level - joking around about cute boys and listening to their middle school gossip. On another occasion I got to know a 4 year boy on the streets in Lima selling gum, and learned that his parents were both working. Instead at being at home being looked after by someone, he was working too. It broke my heart to talk to him. Although his story is far from beyond uncommon in a developing country, that fact makes makes it so much harder to accept the reality of life that some many children know too well.
While I'm sure I still would have experienced many of these things to a certain degree if we had only had a very basic level of Spanish, it would not have been the same. And for that, I'm very grateful.
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I wanted to blog more about the project itself as well, but seeing as I'm already back in school in Madrid (ok, yes i definitely started this blog right after I went to do DC...but am finishing it from Spain) and am already very busy, I'll wait. I have to do a write-up summary/reflection for the Davis Peace Project though (the foundation we did this through) so once I'm finished with that, I'll add it on here. I hope I was able to convey a little bit of the wonderful experience we had. My few blogs do not even begin to do our trip, Villa El Salvador, or Peru in general, any justice. Of all the countries that I've been fortunate enough to travel to, I really think I'd recommend this one as number one. Peru is a world of it's own, and should not to be missed by any means.
