Two opposite worlds

Matt commented that the previous blog entry sounded like I had written it. I have no idea how much I weigh now, but I now have to wear a very tight belt with everysingle pair of my jeans which previously fit me comfortably.
I haven't written for the blog in a while... it has been a crazy last 2/3 weeks since I last wrote. I went away for two weekends and to two completely different worlds.
The first world I went to Matt has dubbed, Disneyworld aka Gringoland. After teaching all morning in Villa Maria del Triunfo, I got on a bus and was wisked away to the land of Hot Showers, 6 soles cups of teas, clean streets and restaurants where everyone spoke english. This was strange because I had just spent the last 2 months living in the exact opposite world. This is the Peru that the government presents to the gringos and I live and work in the world they seek to hide. I stayed at a nice backpackers hostel and met some really cool people. All of them had been travelling around Peru... Cuzco, Mancora etc. They all spoke English. On my first night, I sat in the Loki bar drinking a beer with a guy from Newcastle. This did not feel like Peru. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed my beers, hot showers, meeting lots of interesting people. I met a funny guy from Wisconsin who was my travel buddy around Lima. We went into the centre of Lima and watched the World Cup on a massive screen surrounded by thousands of people for both the 3-4 game and Final. As I navigated this world, on the one hand, I felt more comfortable. Partly because I didn't have all the peruvians around me telling me to be careful, but even more so because I was navigating a world that I recognized because it was designed to be like home, the world I know. They installed the metropolitano bus system. The food was the same. The restaurants were the same. I had a hot chocolate at Starbucks and it tasted like home. On the other hand, I knew it was false. There were guards everyone. There were men who spent hours polishing the bulbs of the lamp post. I could have bought the New York Times in parque kennedy when I woke up on Saturday morning. The food that I eat everyday with my family, which I knew cost 2 soles to make, cost 20 soles at an "authentic Peruvian restaurant" in Miraflores. On Monday morning, I watched the sunrise over the Pacific, sipped a hot chocolate, picked up my laundry and returned to my Peru.

Fastforward to the following thursday, where we went to Pucara, just outside of Huancayo. This was a completely different world. After having spent all night on a cold bus chatting to Isaac, we got off the bus and into another region of Peru. The climate reminded me of Calgary, in the mountains. Not really surprising when you consider that we were at an altitude of 3000+ meters. We went to Huancayo to do research for a possible third project... It was strange for me, because as tempting as it is, I know I won't be coming back to work on the third project. This trip was more for Matt, Isaac and Joseph. We were there for two days, and Matt and I were both very happy that ISaac was there. We visited Pachachara (??) a very rural school about an hour away from Pucara, which is about 30 mins away from the provincial capital. The school had around 120-140 students and is largely ignored by the government for support and investment. It has to compete with a much larger school that is known for having better facilities and more support. We all "fell" for Pachachara... the director was understood the project and the importance of technology for kids. There was clearly a need, it was small enough that 10 computers would have a deep impact. We know that the project will help improve their admission rate. The next day, we walked around the community of Pachachara and talked with some of the people. It became clear that we will face more challenges that we first anticipated. As for the Sierra, it was a completely different world. People could offer us plates and plates of food, but could not pledge 4 or 5 soles to pay for the internet. We encountered a strange adversion to foreigners and even to Isaac, I'm guessing as a result of the recent history with the terrorism in the Sierra. This was an isolated world, with few paved roads, cows and sheep causing traffic jams, no fixed line internet. It is an area largely ignored by the central government. We chatted to families who did not know their monthly intakes because they ate everything they grew. They only sold food when they needed to. We talked to a women who left her family to work as a nanny in Lima.. but spent as much living as you earned. We talked to a young mother who already had 4 children. This was a different world from Miraflores. I felt like I saw so much of Peru without having to go to Maccu Piccu or Mancora like most of my friends or the people I'd talked to.

We arrived back in Cieneguilla to finish the last full week of teaching. I was terrified, I was scared to teach without our third group member. It was a tiring, but very positive week. Despite lacking a group member, the classes went well. All the kids worked well to finish their presentations. They adapted to our teaching style and respected the rules (for the most part) It saddened me to explain to the kids that we would not be coming back to do more classes. One girl mentioned to me that she likes how we teach, its fun. That was fulfilling. I am going to miss the big personalities of each class. Matt, Joseph and I now have alot of fun impersonating the different personalities. The most fulfilling part is that the kids did learn the basic skills we taught them and could apply them when we allowed them to work independently. I am excited to go through all the presentations sometime in the near future to find out all the personal, inciteful answers the kids gave.

I have less than 2 weeks here in Peru. How do I feel? at this point, I can't answer that.