Friday, December 3, 2010

Some updates - AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Hello again, everybody.  I'm glad to report that I've safely and rather conveniently made it to my new home for the next two years - Ferreñafe.  We left from Lima on Saturday night after a pleasant last few words with my host family, a picture given to me of myself with the kids, and a rather traffic-filled road ahead.  There is this 'thing' here where they actually speak of two different types of how you can understand time.  "Hora Peruana" and "Hora Americana".  Hora americana is when one abides by (within reason) the time of important events and agreements.  Hora Peruana is one that, well, abides by no rule other than "if it comes, it comes".  Generally, you can expect to leave a half an hour late.  Terrace, a fellow volunteer headed towards Lamabayeque also, had phoned for a cab that was supposed to arrive at 5pm.  Our bus tickets were stamped 7:30, so we figured we were within reason for having no troubles getting to Lambayeque.

20 minutes late, the cabbie finally showed up.  [skip past much complaining over the horrendous traffic, lots of calls back and forth with everyone else already at the station, several trips ignoring blatant signs regarding the direction of a particular street].  We arrived, in all seriousness, 20 minutes after our bus had pulled out the station.  No big deal, in the end, however, as we were able to get on the next bus - sans the wine, food, and first class seating the other bus came along with.

I've spent the past few days here shadowing my closest site-mate as we went to the city of Lambayeque to give two presentations - on biodegradability rates, composting, and ecotourism.  I observed but was fortunate enough to at least get the papa huacaino that was given to us after the presentation was over.  I was also given this horrid orange soda that I imagine has the exact same taste as the cup of suicide juice drank by those crazy Heaven's Gate people.  Big Red has nothing on this (inside joke with family).

Tomorrow I imagine I will be going to the market with my parents in the morning.  There is a market in our town that has a pretty astounding variety of fruits, vegetable, animal things (everything), and whatever else you want.  Well, perhaps not everything.  I visited the "natural market" in Chiclayo the other day and found all sorts of weird and zany things.  If anyone would like a stuffed Capuchin monkey, leopard skin, or voodoo products, I'm your guy.  Not really though, if you want a leopard's skin, shame on you.

I think this week I will finally upload the several hundred pictures I have on hand.  They take time, people, and there is lots of sorting and organizing that go behind it.  They'll be up soon though, promise.

One last thing to comment on the work-side of things, I met with Vicente, my boss, the other day and it sounds as though I'll be spending part of my time trying to run larger awareness campaigns out to the bigger areas near the Bosque de Pomac
(dry forest, protected area, near my site).  Before they had been focusing on the buffer areas to these sites, but they want me to start working on some projects that would extend their efforts.  I also think that I might be working to help them do some work on some protected areas off the coast of Lambayeque.  I hope I find a pirate's ship.

I'll write more later, but for now I'm going to call it a night.  Love and miss you all, as always.

Oh, and new contact information:

Phone Number:  

here is what should work-- 011- 51-74 957-626-837

011 for all international calls
51 is Peru's country code
74 is Lambayeque area code
...then the rest is my number. (thanks, Mom)

Address

Robert Guise--Cuerpo de Paz
Casilla Postal 208
Oficina Serpost S.A.
Chiclayo, Peru
 


Bobby

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