breathing space and bullfights

i never realized that broken glass could shine so brightly.
leonard bernstein´s mass

first of all, please forgive my poor English skills—i´m finding myself in limbo right now, balancing somewhere between english and spanish, but not fully grasping either at the moment. so, highlights:

camping: in the middle of march, a group of us took advantage of the beauty of south america and went camping on the beach in besique! we only went for one night, but it was probably one of the highlights of my entire (almost) 8 months in chimbote! we arrived in the late afternoon and caught the last few hours of sunlight catching HUGE waves and bodysurfing into shore. the lifeguards were pretty upset that we were swimming out so far, but then again, they had reason to be concerned, considering many chimbotanos do not know how to swim. that night we built a huge campfire on the beach and then slept in a make-shift tent of old plastic bags under a little thatched roof. although the chill at night was miserable, it was so beautiful laying under the stars with the waves crashing just meters away, hanging out with beautiful friends. in the morning, we attempted to go fishing to make our own fresh ceviche, but were unable to catch anything because of the incredibly huge waves, crashing into us on the rocks. apart from being wonderfully fun, it was also a beautiful picture of south america, enjoying the beaches and playing in the surf with several people who have truly become close friends in such a short time here.
retreat: the day after camping, hermana leonila, todd, jane, julie and i left chimbote yet again for our annual retreat. we went to a beautiful little retreat center that the diocese owns in the small beach town of tortugas, about an hour south of chimbote. we spent the entire week in near-silence: journaling, praying, doing yoga, reading through old journals, resting, and spending time as a community. such a beautiful break from the chaos and dust of chimbote and absolutely refreshing for my soul. a short description of tortugas from some stream-of-consciousness journal time:
18.3.09 6 PM i am sitting overlooking what feels like the shell of a fishing town—quiet, almost-deserted, looking at a peaceful bay of small one-man fishing boats reflecting the last rays of the setting sun casting drops of light into the green clear water below, surrounded by hazy mountains of sand and and fury, guarded by pink and purple clouds; listening to the whispers of peaceful waves playing on smooth black rocks, punctuated by the hunt of sea birds diving for dinner and the distant calls of simple fishermen retiring their nets in defeat. A scene that fits better in the alchemist, on the shores of algeria, but never even imagined in totugas, peru.
feria de san jose: in march we also took advantage of an invite from an older friend (aka sugar daddy) to take a day-trip to trujillo, a wealthy city on the coast a few hours north of chimbote. we went for the celebration of san jose, the patron saint of trujillo. they model the festival after the running of the bulls in spain! it was pretty incredible—they actually ran bulls through the narrow streets of the las delicias neighborhood, then had a ceremonial bull fight! i had never seen one before, and while i had been warned, it was still quite violent and bloody. but beyond the bloodshed was a beautiful art that was celebrated. the bullfighters were kids—one was 12, the other 19! but the art of bullfighting runs in their blood—their father and grandfather have both been in the ring, and were there encouraging and cheering for the next generation. after the bullfight, we went to a fancy dinner with the former mayor of chimbote, as well as other very wealthy peruvians of varying titles and fame. it was such a treat, but depressingly ironic to be sitting outside the gorgeous glass house of the rich and famous, sipping expensive wine and talking about the extreme poverty of chimbote…
wedding: a few weeks ago, the girls and i were invited by a friend to go to a wedding in a tiny town outside of chimbote. it was so beautiful to be invited to share in the special day of 2 complete strangers, but the whole party welcomed us with open arms. it was pretty similar to a wedding in the states. the actual service was simple, little more than a regular mass, but the reception after was a huge party! the orquestra from one of the main discos in chimbote played for the reception. main differences in a peruvian wedding reception:
o music is pure cumbia, salsa, and huayno (go here to learn more about huayno). and everyone dances!
o party favors were wine, beer, cigarettes, halls cough drops, and rolls of toilet paper
o even though the party was still going strong, we decided to leave around 7 am to get a little sleep!
hospice: in february i started working with the hospice program run by the sisters of charity. it has definitely been a challenge, but overall i am loving the work. it is so beautiful to be able to go into the homes of my patients at such an incredibly painful time and truly connect with both the patient and the family. in my limited experience, i have already found that while death of the patient may be dreaded or feared, it is often met with a sense of relief. and the staff that i work with at hospice has the beautiful work of easing that transition and simply being a loving presence
semana santa (holy week): easter in peru is so much more than a few extra people at church on sunday and honey ham! the celebrations start the week before on saturday. i went with several friends from the parrish to climb the cerro de paz (hill of peace) and participate with about 2,000 other people in the stations of the cross. in most cities in south america, the tallest hill or mountain boasts a huge cross. this is the effect of the christianization of south america. as high spaces were often the holiest places for indigenous religions, the spanish chose to place crosses on top of the highest hills to symbolize the sovereignty of christianity. so in this now-christian nation, as a symbol of repentence and in memory of jesus´s journey to golgatha, every year there is a huge procession up the mountain, culminating in mass at the top. although hot and crowded, it was a pretty cool experience. and, being the only gringa in the crowd, i was singled out for an interview and made my peruvian radio debut!

the celebrations continued throughout the week with a palm sunday procession and numerous special services throughout the week. on holy friday, the youth of the parrish acted out a live stations of the cross through the streets of chimbote. it was pretty interesting to be a part of, and we actually gatherd a pretty good crowd that followed to the last station. all of my roommates participated, todd having the honor of playing jesus (hopefully not perpetuating stereotypes of jesus as white middle-class, but because no one else wanted to do it!). it was a pretty powerful image to be standing in a dirt soccer field after dark, with three people above the crowd hanging on crosses and the eerie sounds of women weeping at the feet of jesus.

todd´s brother and sister arrived on saturday with their significant others and we dyed easter eggs with some peruvian friends--and i realized what a strange tradition it is! for easter sunday, we had a huge feast at our house with the roommates, todd´s family, and all of the incarnate word sisters in chimbote, complete with pisco sours and an easter egg hunt--a beautiful mix of cultures!

overall: things are going pretty well here! after 8 months, i still feel like i am discovering new things and being awed by the culture and humbled by how little i know about the world. but on the other hand, life is normal(ish), i have a beautiful community, and i´m forgetting bits and pieces about what life was like in the states. as it starts to cool down a little here as fall approaches, i am missing spring in the states and all the excitement and new life and beautiful green buds...but then again, i am learning to appreciate the beauty here, generally in subtler places.

so breathe in the fresh air, be thankful, and laugh with delight!

back to reality...

but it actually feels pretty good to be ¨home¨ in chimbote, although time with allie has made me miss all the comforts of home terribly...

pictures of our adventure are up. enjoy!

http://mividaperuana.shutterfly.com/

vacay!

and it´s about time! i am so incredibly excited. i´m headed out to lima today to pick allie up at the airport. then we´re off to cuzco, inca trail, macchu picchu--you know, the safe, tourist-version of peru! then we´ll come back to chimbote for a few days, so she can see the other side of peruvian reality.

i abosolutely cannot believe that today marks our 6 month anniversary of being in chimbote. and how will i celebrate?! a HUGE hug from someone who loves and knows me (it has been 6 months since i had one of those!). what more could i ask for?

another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

hi all. again, another long time in between posts. sorry, such is life! and life is busy nowadays. so many updates for you:

i suppose the big thing right now, the ¨turning point¨ is that i officially had my last day this week at Maternidad (the maternity hospital I had been working at). although i had a really beautiful experience and learned so much, and delivered 7 babies (!!!), i´ve decided that it´s time to move on. i was struggling with feeling like i wasn´t really able to make any sort of contribution there. they have a full staff, as well as numerous midwifery interns who are there to learn. at times i felt like i was robbing them of their learning experience, as i was just another person there who lacked the expertise to really be a part of the team. in addition, because they are not really used to having long-term volunteers, i never really received training apart from the occasional obstetriz who was willing to teach me a few things. definitely a beautiful experience, but now that i´m feeling a little more settled in this place, it´s probably time to take more initiative and move on.

this also means that i get to take the fork in the road, which i am honestly looking so forward to! in my days that i was working at maternidad, i will now be working at hospice. honestly, at first this option terrified me, with such limited language and understanding of some of the issues that go into healthcare here. there is something very humbling about doing healthcare in the homes of my patients. it is a completely different role, where i will be the guest, i will have to adapt to their rules, while providing healthcare and a presence of comfort. i anticipate that the true beauty of hospice will be sharing in the lives of my patients and their families; more than wound care, foleys, and injections, but truly entering into their lives at such a critical time, and being present to their needs beyond the physical. i guess i would say that this is the beauty of hospice, but also the beauty of nursing; that is, of taking care of human beings, not just human bodies. i can´t even imagine the new challenges that this work will bring (besides walking around in the killer heat all day!), but i trust that it will be beautifully rewarding.

in addition, starting in february i will be working with a group called ¨Promotoras de Salud¨ (Health Promoters) through the Posta Santa Clara (the clinic i have been working in). Promoturas is volunteer-run program that currently focuses on healthcare of the elderly population in my neighborhood. they serve the elderly through home visits, free healthcare services at the posta, as well as social and spiritual health promotion and events. this year we will be adding families with special needs to the program. i´m still not exactly sure what my role will be, but it will include directing the volunteers, the Promotoras, in their work, in guiding how home visits should be conducted, as well as health teaching for the volunteers. this will be a great challenge, as some of the volunteers have little or no education (at least 2 are completely illiterate, which obviously brings complications of its own). this will be an opportunity to integrate my education with some creativity!

so many people have asked me about how my spanish is coming along…i can´t believe i ever thought that i knew spanish before coming here! it is absolutely incredible how much i have learned and understand now that i didn´t 5 months ago. i still have a long ways to go, but it´s a beautiful thing to find myself comfortable in the language. when jane and julie were gone for 2 weeks traveling in the beginning of january, todd and i committed to speaking only Spanish in the house. and as much as i dreaded it, and even opted for silence at times because of the exhaustion that can accompany conversation, it was proof that i am able to survive in this language, in this place, without those things i often rely on.

jane, julie and i recently hit our 5 month anniversary of being here! into our 6th month, and at times i still feel like we just got here, others i can´t remember what it´s like to live in the states and that reality feels so distant. i am feeling like i am definitely settling into the community more here, with a routine and a solid group of friends, but the settling is juxtaposed with the reality that i will never fully understand this culture, that i will never really be peruvian (for as long as i live here and as many peruvian slang phrases that i throw into conversation to give the appearance of belonging!). i´m sure there is an official name for this phenomenon, but i´ll call it ¨interculturalism¨ or simply integration—that is, the phenomenon of attempting to take on a reality that is not truly your own, to internalize two distinct cultural frames of reference. of trying to understand and experience a life that is not fully attainable. of trying to be a part of a culture that i will never fully understand, because my worldview is grounded in my u.s. culture. i am not attempting to rid myself of this worldview (i realize there is also some really beautiful aspects), but rather to come to a deeper understanding of the human struggle. of what it is that makes us humans, apart from the cultures we know. if anyone has thoughts on this, maybe someone who has officially studied intercultural sensitivity or lived in another culture, please feel free comment on this!

on a lighter note, my sister is coming to visit the first week of march! i am so incredibly excited to see her and especially to travel a little bit. i will be going back to cuzco, but this time, i get to experience a few days of the inca trail, which i have heard is absolutely incredible! it will also be wonderful to have someone here who knows me outside of this context, someone to bridge my two worlds a little bit, and for her to be able to relate to my experience. this also means that if you have been absolutely dying to send me something, but have held off for an opportunity of little to no shipping costs, this is your chance! no pressure at all, just an opportunity; if you need my home address, let me know!

enjoy the snow for me, and take care!

reflexiones de navidad

songs are up...a little late for christmas, but not too late to enjoy! go here: www.reverbnation.com/raymundoycorina

this wasn´t my first christmas away from home, but definitely my first so far away from friends and family. i would be lying if i said it was the most wonderful time of the year--it has been the most challenging--but it has also been beautiful, in a very strange new way. we started the christmas festivities on the 23rd with a festival de villancicos (christmas carol concert) and it was hilarious. we sang with our english classes, and it´s no wonder they´re studying english and not music performance! despite sounding a little rough, it was really beautiful in a clash-of-cultures sort of way. there aren´t many people in chimbote who speak english, so i think it was (hopefully) entertaining for the audience (despite the entertainment of our disharmony!). todd and i did a little duet of my absolute favorite ¨o holy night¨ and it went really well and just confirmed the fact that i was created to sing on stage. jaja.

after we had a little birthday party for me in our patio. honestly, because my birthday falls on christmas eve, i had forgotten what it was like to have a huge birthday bash with friends! it was so much fun, and true to peruvian tradition, we stayed up until well after sunrise dancing to salsa and cumbias.

on the 24th, the girls took me out to our favorite restaurant downtown, then went for a little paseo to the mar. the malecon (seawall) is my second favorite place in chimbote. so peaceful, and though it reeks of burning fish this time of year, it´s one of the few places to sit and enjoy chimbote. that night, we went to christmas eve mass. a typical christmas mass, although it wasn´t actually much busier than a typical sunday mass, which seemed unusual to me. after mass, we went over to our friend tanya´s house for dinner. at midnight, the ritual here is to place the baby jesus in the manger scene and then, and only then, you´re allowed to hug everyone and say merry christmas. true to peru, we ate dinner around 1 AM, then danced the night away in her living room. it was beautiful to spend the night with an actual family, i feel like i have had so little family interaction here, and to observe the family roles--complete with the typical dad jokes.

on the 25th, we had lunch with the dominican sisters and our incarnate word sisters--basically a gathering of all the religious who are in chimbote, far away from family. it was really nice to eat a u.s. style meal, complete with a cheese plate, mashed potatoes, camote (basically sweet potatoes), and ham! oh, and also nice to spend time with them!

and tonight, just to keep the insane amount of activity going, we´re off to lima to finalize our immigration business. hopefully we won´t run into any problems like we had with the consulate in ecuador...

pictures coming soon!

con amor,
corina

bummer

my apologies. unfortunately, none of my songs were posted on reverbnation, but keep checking the site and i will try to post them soon. so have yourself a merry little christmas, and thanks for all the love, prayers, and energy sent my way!

dreaming of a white christmas

¡feliz navidad! and thanks for all the birthday wishes.

i have a whole villancico (christmas carol) album recorded, but unfortunately was only able to download 1 song. so here´s my regalito:

www.reverbnation.com/raymundoycorina