Things I have learned:
- Hot showers are a luxury. My “hot” showers usually consist of cold water with spurts of warm water. Needless to say, I have become excellent at taking 3 minute showers.
-Lucuma is a common flavor here in Huanuco. It’s a fruit but the ice cream flavor tastes exactly like birthday cake ice cream.
- Fireworks are very common to hear throughout the day, no idea why, but they are beautiful to watch at night.
I have learned in the past couple weeks that I was incredibly lucky to be given the family that I did. Though progress has been slow, I am starting to find my place. Almost every night I help Jonathan with his English homework (more for my benefit that his), and the girls are definitely opening up more. I even got them to laugh a few times, which for me, means success. My host mom has been incredible, not only will she sit and talk with me multiple times throughout the day, but also whenever she is going somewhere she asks me to tag along.
Another picture of my family: Joana, Luis, Cathy, Ingrid, and Jonathan in front :)
However, I think the thing I am most grateful for is my family’s eating habits (strange, I know), but in Peru, the people eat some form of potato, white rice, and meat, everyday, all day. In my house we eat all those things but we also eat lots of vegetables, which is very uncommon. Another thing that I love is that the fruit plate is always full with a variety of fruits to choose from. For those who know me well, this is a dream come true. Another interesting fact is that in most houses they pre-make all the plates of food for everyone. This means that the guests sometimes have to eat more than they are comfortable with in order to not offend anyone (because it is in fact very offensive to not eat what is given to you). However, in my family everyone serves themselves, which is an amazing blessing for me. Every now and then my host mom will ask me why I didn’t eat much? Did I not like it? Do I want something else? But I have found that I can simply tell her that I wasn’t very hungry because of this or that reason and she doesn’t mind at all. I must also clarify that by not “eating much,” that means I only ate one big plate of food, instead of two. I’ve also found that my host mom buys me one mango a week (my favorite) and will also buy me wheat bread if she stops by a specific panadaria (bread shop), an incredibly sweet gesture. This may seem like a silly thing to be grateful for, but I have heard over and over again that the food situation can often be the most difficult thing to deal with. Site coordinators are constantly challenged to explain to the families the need for smaller portions or more fruits and vegetables without offending anyone. Therefore, I have been incredibly lucky.
On Saturdays, I get to help Medali with a small group of adolescents who have been sexually abused; most have children from the abuse. Each Saturday we do something different with the girls including dances, games, and art projects. This past Saturday we went to a remote camp about 30 minutes outside of Huanuco. After taking a bus, we all walked another 20 minutes away from the main highway to reach our destination. When we were almost there we realized that we would have to cross the river to get to the camp. I, being the silly gringa, thought “we’ll we can’t cross the river with three children and all of our stuff, so we are going to have to stop here.” To my surprise the girls all started taking off their shoes and before I knew it all the girls had crossed, children and all. At the camp we played a few games, had an apple-eating race and let the girls take pictures by the river. Afterwards most of the girls wanted to bathe in the water. All of them were prepared with soap and shampoo. I sat there stunned realizing that I complain about not having a hot shower, but most of these girls don’t have a shower at all. It is quite an experience to watch a teenage girl bathe herself and her son in a freezing cold, brown colored river and be blissfully happy about it. How incredibly blessed I have been my whole life and not even realized it.
A view from the camp we went to
While most of Saturday was a wonderful day, it also was a hard day for me. Not only was I not feeling well, but I was not informed that we were going to be out in the sun for six hours (darn language barrier). Needless to say I got burnt, which is something that I try to prevent at all times because I am so pale. When I came home my host mom could tell that I was upset and simply listened as I explained that I was mad at myself for not thinking to bring sunscreen. As I started to cry, she gently reminded me that I didn’t know where we were going, how could I have known. She then promised to have Luis talk to the girls at work and make sure that they inform me whenever we are going somewhere so that I can be more prepared.
It’s a very humbling thing to be vulnerable and have to ask for help. It’s something that I am not very good at, and something I need to work on. I prefer to help others and brush my own feelings aside, but being here for about a month now has taught me that at some point we are all going to cry, no matter how strong we try to be. It is just important to realize you are being helped, be incredibly gracious for the help, and return the favor when the time comes.
The quote that gets me through the tough days:
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow.”-Mary anne Radmacher
Besos a todos, Love a lobster red Hannah
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