Thursday, April 16, 2009

New Photos and Posts

Hey Everybody!


It’s been a long time since we have updated our blog, mostly because we haven’t had fast enough internet to upload all our photos. But we’ve been writing and recording memories on our laptop and now have posted numerous posts below (all appear to have the same post date but we’ve also included the actual dates of the entries which go back to January).


There are many more photos which we have put up on our Picassa web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft

Semana Santa in Ancash


April 15, 2009

By Milene

In Peru, the week leading up to Easter is known as Semana Santa or Saint Week and it is one of the most important national holidays of the year. Most schools and offices in small town such as where we live shut down for the week. As Peace Corps Volunteers in Peru, we receive four free vacation days. Nathan and I decided to take the opportunity to travel to Ancash. Ancash is a department in Peru that holds one of the most beautiful snow peaked mountain ranges in the Latin America and possibly in the world. Tourists from all around the globe come to Ancash to see the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra mountain ranges. Huascaran, the highest mountain in Peru (6768m) and the second highest in South America, is one of the main attractions. Alpamayo, another peak in the range, was named “the most beautiful mountain in the world” by UNESCO. The region is also spotted with crystal turquoise glacial lakes supplied by the mountain runoff water and elegant waterfalls.

For Peace Corps volunteers, Ancash is an attractive place to visit not only for its views, but also for its great cafes, restaurants, and hostels all catered to the tourist population. It was the first time since being in Peru that we saw bagels and hummus. We also found Indian curries and Mexican burritos, which satisfied some long-held cravings. We stayed in a really cute hostel with a fireplace café on the fifth floor that had a panoramic window with a view of the Cordillera Blanca. The hostel served breakfast each morning with fresh fruit juice, bread, jam, cheese, coffee and tea. The atmosphere reminded us of a ski resort since the weather outside was cold and inside was warm and cozy with friendly people everywhere. While there we met up with several other Peace Corps volunteers from Peru 9 (a previous group) who we rarely get to hang out with.

We took a one day visit to a glacial lake, which was gorgeous. We took a refreshing dip in the freezing cold water as is Peace Corps Ancash tradition. Then we stopped at a town called Yungay, which was destroyed by a mudslide caused by an earthquake in 1970. We took a description off of Wikipedia of what happened:

“On 31 May 1970, the Ancash earthquake caused a substantial part of the north side of [Huascaran] to collapse. The block of ice and rocks was about 1 mile long, half a mile wide, and half a mile deep. In about five minutes it flowed 11 miles to Yungay, burying the entire town under ice and rock, and causing the deaths of more than 20,000 people.”

It was a surreal experience to stand on the very earth which buried the town and look up at Huascaran, thinking of how powerful the natural force must have been to cause such destruction. The only remnants left were the grass field that has grown over the area that used to be the town, a bus that was completely twisted by the mudslide, and pieces of buildings that had been torn off and relocated. Ironically, the only structure that was not damaged was the cemetery since it was built on an elevated hill. We found out that the only survivors of the mudslide were 300 children who were off at a circus in a nearby sports stadium.

The trip as a whole was great, and we look forward to going back and doing a three day trek in the Cordillera Blanca with Nathan’s siblings when they come visit in May!

Lots more pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/SemanaSantaInAncash#










Valley of the Pyramids

April 4, 2009

We took a day trip with our host family to the nearby department of Lambayeque which is well-known for its many pre-Incan archaeological sites. First we visited the museum of "Señor de Sipán" which showcases the mummy of the supreme leader of the Moche civilization (pre-Incan). Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside the museum in order to preserve all the ancient artifacts housed there, so we only have photos of the outside of the museum. We spent the second half of the day in Túcume, located in the Valley of the Pyramids. After climbing to the top of a nearby mountain, you can see 26 ancient adobe pyramids spread throughout the valley which were built over 1,000 years ago by the Lambayeque civilization (pre-Incan).




Without Water in Tembladera

March 21, 2009

In the mountains of Peru it rains consistently from December through April, making life a bit difficult. Fortunately, Tembladera is located lower down the mountains in a valley where it does not rain as intensely nor as frequently. In fact, the rain is often a nice respite from the heat for us. But after several months of heavy rains further up the mountains, and a constant increase in our river flow, the waters washed away the town's water pipes. There is only one source of water to our town, located in some treatment facility further up the mountains. That water arrives to our town via one set of pipes, and if anything ever happens to those access pipes, the entire town is cut off from its water supply. Unfortunately, the water pipes are located precipitously close to the river. When the river floods, the pipes get washed away. And that’s exactly what happened.

So our town was without water for about 2 weeks, which made life a little more exciting. Every day people had to go to the river and fill buckets for their house. Clothes washing also had to be done in the river. Fortunately the local cement mining company sent around a truck twice a day which unloaded water into the waiting buckets which lined the town’s streets. On the plus side, we learned how incredibly refreshing it feels to bathe in a mountain stream instead of a shower. One tip for anyone who goes this route: always tie your soap to your wrist—several of our bars fell victim to slippery hands and a quick current.

More pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/WithoutWaterInTembladera#





Ken Visits Tembladera

March 17, 2009

Our friend and fellow Peace Corps volunteer Ken visited us for the day in Tembladera. He is the volunteer closest to us in the department of Cajamarca at about 3 hours distance by bus. We went to nearby archaeological sites, did some rock climbing, visited my shrimp farm and caught some dinner, and then went back to town where Ken showed off his culinary skills preparing a shrimp pasta for us all.








Project Design Management Workshop

March 11, 2009

In March, Peace Corps offered a Project Design Management Workshop for volunteers and their counterparts from site. Milene participated with a local health post worker, Maribel, and I went with Miguel, a small business owner and town activist. During our three days in the beach town of Pacasmayo we were trained in the step-by-step process of project planning and management, from defining a vision, goals and objectives to writing a budget and establishing a monitoring and evaluation plan. Milene and Maribel worked on a plan to establish a garden project for youth in Tembladera to address nutrition deficiency and also provide a way for young people to gain a little income. Miguel and I mapped out a project to teach vocational skills to high school students in order to prepare them better for securing work, thus helping alleviate the chronic cycle of poverty which families in Tembladera face. Both of our projects are now starting up in town and we’ll keep you posted on how they go.



Carnaval

February 27, 2009

Carnaval is celebrated in many parts of the world in several variations--Mardi Gras for French speakers, the start of Lent for the religious, and Carnaval here in Peru and most of Latin America. In Peru, the biggest Carnaval celebration is held in Cajamarca City in the department of Cajamarca, our home department. We met up in the city with many volunteers from around the country, many of whom we rarely see because of the distance between us. Saturday was the highlight of the weekend, the day when from morning until night we engaged in a festive street battle of water balloons, paint-filled supersoakers, buckets of unknown liquid dropped from balconies, singing, dancing and general merriment. We felt like children in a giant playground with no adults to tell us we were misbehaving. It was truly a spectacular and fun-filled weekend.

Some photos are posted below, but we lots more in our photo album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/Carnaval#





Marinera Festival

January 24, 2009

The Marinara is a traditional folk dance of Peru (and perhaps other countries as well that I am not aware of). In all of Peru, the coastal city of Trujillo is the place to go to see the Marinara. As it is said there, "En Perú se nació Dios; en Trujillo se nació la Marinara." "God was born in Peru; and the Marinara in Trujillo." Every year Trujillo hosts a massive international marinara festival, drawing dancers from around the country and the world. We made the 4 hour trip to the coast with a large host family contingent and after several hours of waiting in line to get tickets, we were finally able to relax and enjoy an exciting show.

More pics and videos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/MarineraFestival#





Would you like to go out sometime?

By Milene

February 20, 2009

We already know that our town is not very big, but recently we learned that it is not that small either. Basically, most people have seen us around town and know that we are there to do volunteer work. That does not mean that they know we are a married couple. A few days ago, I was walking to the “gym” (think Soviet-era Eastern Bloc Arnold Schwarzenneggar gym…half the roof missing, a few aerobic machines without electricity, oil that leaks out of equipment on to your head, and occasionally a car will roll in as half the gym is transformed into a mechanic shop while you are working out) in my site and a mototaxi driver stopped on the street right next to me to ask if I wanted a ride to wherever I was headed. I thought he wanted to ask me about teaching English or something, but I accepted his mototaxi offer to be nice. Here’s how our conversation went:

Mototaxi Guy: [driving up to me as I walked] “Hey, where are you heading?”

Me: [surprised/startled] “Oh, uh, just walking to the gym.”

Mototaxi Guy: [trying to impress] “Want a ride? I can take you there.”

Me: “Oh no that’s OK, it’s close.” [only two blocks]

Mototaxi Guy: “Oh that’s OK, I can take you anyways.”

Me: [trying to be nice] “Well OK, sure.”

[1 minute later arriving at the “gym”]

Mototaxi Guy: “Are you an English teacher here?”

Me: “Well not really, I teach some English but I do work with the youth here.”

Mototaxi: “How come I never see you out on the weekends?”

Me: [confused] “What do you mean?”

Mototaxi: “If you want sometime, we can go out to the plaza on the weekend…”

And that’s how I got asked out on a date to go walk around the plaza on the weekend. He was disappointed to hear that the other gringo guy I always walk around with is actually my husband, but I’m sure we’ll all see each other around town and maybe even do a group hangout at the plaza one Friday.

Circus Update: Pictures

March 4, 2009

Our last blog entry described our experience at the traveling circus which came to town.. The photos here show Milene's death-defying stunt as a she was chosen to stand completely still and watch knives thrown at her, clanging in the board behind her. She reassures us that the knives "weren't that sharp."

More pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nathanhaft/TravelingCircusComesToTown#