a woman in a machismo society.

so i'm still a feminist, but... i honestly kind of like it when a man gives me up his seat on a bus for me. if it were to happen in the states, i would be like, "no thanks. i'm capable of standing." but here, it is completely different. transportation is absolutely packed, you risk getting all your pocessions stollen everytime you ride, particularily if you have to stand up instead of sit down. and basically, you can count on getting groped, accidently or not, while riding these small, packed vehicles. therefore, when a man offers me his seat, i graciously take it and don't even think twice about it.

with that said, that's probably the only thing i enjoy about a machismo culture. can i just say how incredibly sick i am of having to go everywhere with a man? and how, if you're going anywhere, the adult in your presence will say, "you can only go if there is a man." and if you do happen to go anywhere alone, even walking the two blocks to your house, you can definitely count on quite a few stares, a couple whistles, and perhaps some hissing.

last night hannah groff's family had a pretty smashing party for all the sst'ers, plus any peruvian siblings that wanted to come. it was quite the ball. first off, let's just say hannah's family is a little more than well off. i think their house was nicer than mine in the states! they had this large and beautiful courtyard/patio thing, where the dancing and drinking (yes, i must say it was kind of odd having someone's mom busy making sangria in the kitchen for us all) took place. this was just such a relaxing and fun atmosphere. it was the first time all of us got together without it being for school, which was nice, because although we see each other everyday, it's still focused around "learning" and not definitely not relaxing.

on the way to the party, we squeezed in 6 of us, plus the taxi driver, making it 7 all in our car. four in the back, three in the front. it was quite the experience and definitely quite illegal in the states, but here, you can have as many people as you can fit in a taxi. then on the way home, dan, scott, and i took a taxi back. i ended up just getting dropped off at Arequipa so i could then just walk the 2 blocks home. i figured all would be well, even though it was late (about 12:45) i thought 2 blocks would be a quick, safe jaunt. but it was amazing how un-safe i felt, and how i just wished i made on the guys go with me. first off all, there is a bar/discotecca at the corner on arequipa that i go to. so... there were quite a few drunk people out and about. the minute i stepped out of the taxi, i had about 3 different comments made toward me (saying who knows what... i can't understand anything). then as i kept walking, people would just stare at me, and their eyes would follow me everywhere i would go. and if i a man passed me on the sidewalk, he would make it quite obvious what he thought of me walking alone on the streets of lima, and possibly what he would like to do to me? i don't really know... and i don't want to know. i just know that i dislike the fact that this has to happen and that the minute the sun goes down, being alone is out of the question.

i don't want to make lima sound like a scary place though, because really it is not. during the daytime, i hear almost nothing from people. occasionally i'll have the rude person stare at me for quite sometime. or i'll get the occasional "que bonita!" but most of that is harmless. at night... i don't feel it's quite as harmless. but none-the-less, peru is much tamer in the cat-call culture than other south american countries.

onto another subject: it seems my sundays are going to have a rather consistent pattern. today, as i was getting ready for church, the phone rang and it was apparently for me. i answered, and it was my friend gisela who i met last sunday. she wanted to make sure i was going to church and she said carol wanted to have me over for lunch again. i agreed to, and was excited to have plans. so i got to church and gisela rushed up to me, eager to speak in spanglish. then after church, i again went to carols for lunch, which was quite tasty. i found out that carol is from the jungle and her family moved because they wanted her to receive a better education and so she could work as well. anyway, she had cousins visiting from the jungle, and they wanted to go to the beach. so gisela, carol, carol's three cousins, an aunt, a cab driver, and myself all piled into one taxi, and headed to miraflores where there are incredible beaches. i wish i could describe the beauty of these cliffs and beaches, but i really can not. just imagine being on top of a cliff, looking straight down, and seeing endless beaches spreading for miles, with surfers galore (the waves here are insane, so insane i am actually semi-scared to get in the water in fear of being sucked out to the ocean, and so amazing that the world's best female surfer, sofia, is from peru, surfs in peru, and kathryn even saw her in the mall (her family told her who she was). anyway, i'm not the best at describing beauty, but i've seen quite a few beautiful beaches, and these top them all.

so i spend the day at the beach, and came back home completely exhausted. but it is quite fun to have some peruvian friends who can take me out and about and who actually know where they are going, and can do all the talking for me. i definitely feel safe with them, whereas going out with other goshenites is quite fun, it's also complicated because we have to figure everything out in a language we aren't the best at, and we're all obviously white and out of place. and not necessarily always safe. so having sunday outings with my peruvian friends is almost a blessing.

minus the fact that my peruvian lover was at it again. this time, instead of standing outside the window while i ate lunch, he actually came inside, pulled a chair close the table, and played me songs on the guitar the entire time. it was ridiculous. then he somehow found us at the beach (what a coincidence, eh?), and he was talking to me so much i finally said in bad spanish, "i don't want to talk to you. you talk too fast. i can't understand. and i'm tired." he then left me alone... for about 10 minutes. oy.

friday night all the sst girls, minus kathryn who went to the mall, came over to my house. we went out for dinner and walked about a bit. it was in our plans to go to the park with trampolines, but we all ended up very exhausted and everyone departed around 9:30/10:00. it's amazing how no matter how much sleep you get here, you're still ready to sleep some more.

then saturday morning, about 10 of us from the sst group went to pamplona, an xtremely poor shanty town, to play with kids at this "daycare" of a sorts. there will be a goshen blog entry about this eventually, which will explain our purpose and the daycare a bit more extensivly, so i'm not going to go into those details. instead i will tell of my experience:

to begin with, i have honestly never been in such a place in my life. these shanty towns have been built on these mountains surrouding lima (they're actually still in the city limits and count as a part of lima). these mountains are basically all sound, and they are not hilly by any means, they're definitely steep mountains. yet thousands of people have built these tin shacks on this sand, almost piled right on top of each other. there are children walking about everywhere, dogs roaming, it's hot, there are absolutely no trees - definitely pure desert, the sand burns your feet and the sun burns your skin, and everywhere you look, all you see are shacks... for miles and miles and miles, all piled on top of these mountains. it made me cry.

we opened up one of the shacks which apparently the first goshen grout to go down with dean rhodes during a may term actually built. the shack was made for these children who just roam these sand mountains because their parents work and there is obviously no means of childcare. in the shack we set up tables for coloring, making bracelets, making paper objects, balloon blowing. we also had water and crackers to hand out, because there is no water in these places. we were told about 30 children would come. and then they started coming, one by one. some shy, some not shy at all. anywhere from the age of 1-10. i think word spread like wildfire though, because instead of having 30 children, we had around 50. this room was tiny... i have no idea how we all packed in there. it was the most chaotic 2 hours of my life, but probably the most rewarding at the same time. these kids were adorable. completely dirty, pretty smelly, but adorable none the less. all i wanted to do was hug them all. and the cutest part? they called us all sister or brother.

i seemed to work my way into their hearts with my camera. these kid have obviously never seen digital cameras, and perhaps have never even seen themselves in a mirror? anyway, i brought out my camera about 45 min. before we were going to leave, and the kids just lined up. the first time i would take their picture, they wouldn't really smile. they would just look at me. i would then show them the picture and their faces would just completely light up and they'd start grinning from ear to ear. one particularily adorable 2 year would scream, " me me me me me!!!" everytime i would show him a picture of himself. after the first photo, most would ask for a second, and this time they would grin quite large for me. it seems such a simple thing... yet it was incredible. all i wanted to do was keep taking pictures of these kids just for their reactions when they could see them.

it was a very challening thing though. for one, it was so hard to communicate. i was laughed at my children multiple times. and they would become so frustrated when they would keep asking me questions and i wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about. i would try to find someone to interrupt it, but with 50 kids swarming around, it was rather challening. as i was leaving, a girl named ingrid handed me a card. i had gisela translate it today and it said,

"thanks for everything and for all the sisters and brothers, for their hearts and for giving up their time."

and i think that is all i have. i need to do tarea (homework), and i am muy cansada (very tired).

i love and miss you all.

ps. i wanted to include my two new-found loves.

one) liquid yogurt. here... all yogurt is in liquid form. and it is brilliant. i could eat it for days on ends. but my mom doesn't buy in. in fact, i don't eat any dairy at all unless one would count condensed milk, which i have with coffee every morning, which is awesome by the way. and i realized i truly am lactose intollerant, because not eating any dairy has made me never fart. and if you know me, you know i'm a pretty gasy person. so fancy that, eh? but i'm getting way off track here... all i wanted to say, was this yogurt pretty much rocks, but the only way i get it is if i sneak off to some store and buy it. which i have done occasionally. such as tonight. and it was yummy.

two) bread. okay, so that is not a new found love. but i live right beside a panderia/pastel shop (bakery and desert shop) and honestly, i've never had stuff that tastes like what comes out of this place. and my mom goes out and buys me fresh bread every single morning from this place. it is heavenly. and i did walk in by myself for the first time this evening (after the yogurt adventure). i never had enough nerve to go in and get what i want, because usually i just have what my mom gives me. but tonight i did it. and i defintely couldn't speak, and the ladies weren't very nice to me, and i didn't get that i had to pay for whatever i wanted, get the receipt, and then give the receipt to one of the bakers behind the counter and then THEY would give me my bread... but beside all that embarresment and confusement, i had a pretty awesome bread-something that was cinaminnish.

the end.