Lows and Highs

I forgot to mention in my last post that another American volunteer moved into the Espaanglisch house. Anjana is from upstate New York but attended Berkeley and lived in San Francisco until she left her job as an English teacher at Kaplan.  As if the world weren't small enough already, it turns out that Anjana used to date my next-door neighbor in Harvard, Mass..  NUTS!

Following a relaxing weekend at the beach, we returned to Uno A on Monday, where I took on the fun new role of co-art teacher.  Given my complete lack of artistic talent, I feared that I would be exposed as a fraud within minutes.  Luckily, our lesson consisted of teaching the youngest class of kids how to draw shapes (i.e. squares, triangles, and circles) and then use the shapes to make a picture.  As simple as this task sounds, you would be amazed how little these kids can accomplish in an hour.  Many of them lack the basic motor skills to properly hold a pencil because they were never taught properly or because this is their first time in a classroom setting. 

I took several pictures of the kids in Uno A this week. Here are some of my favorites:

       

 Walking home from class

 After teaching, we hitched a ride on a convi back to downtown Trujillo.

An introduction to convis (pronounced Con-Vees):  Trujillo does not have an official public transit system.  Instead, the majority of residents rely on convis to get around. Convis are micro vans with set routes that operate like public buses.  A typical ride begins with a loud, Peruvian fare collector sticking his head out of the window and yelling the vehicle's final destination (ex. Huanchaco, Huanchaco, Huanchaco, Huanchaco, etc.) on repeat until he is certain that everyone heading his way gets on-board.  As the last passenger´s foot is still halfway out the door, the driver pulls away at top speed, honking at cars, people, and/or dogs...basically anything that crosses his path.  Every 5-10 blocks, the fare collector jumps out of the convi (usually while it's still moving) and runs to a punch clock where he registers the van's arrival time and the number of passengers on board.  The driver then begins to drive away, the fare collector runs to catch up, and it's on to the next pick up.  I have noted on numerous occasions that a convi will have a "maximum capacity: 12 or 13" sticker prominently displayed on its dashboard.  However, it is not uncommon for 20 people to cram into a space similar in size to a Dodge Caravan.  I must say, as uncomfortable as many of these voyages have been, the convi system is bizarrely reliable and wildly cheap.  For example, I can ride from my house to Huanchaco, which is a good 25 minutes away, for about 50 cents.

Sorry to digress...

My adult English classes are going well.  I had three people show up on Monday and by the end of last week, we were up to four! The three hours per week I spend with my adult class are some of my most rewarding.  Many of the students are in their late teens or early twenties and all of them are totally forgiving of my feeble attempts to explain English grammar in Spanish.

This past Tuesday, we had the day off due to the prior-mentioned scheduling debacle, so I headed to Huanchaco for Spanish lessons with David.  After class, all of the volunteers were treated to an incredible ceviche dinner at David's former landlord's house on the beach.  All in all, I have been unimpressed with the cuisine in Trujillo, but Maria's ceviche was amazing.

Dinner on Maria´s roof.

Following another day of teaching in Uno A on Wednesday, we were recruited for another USDA project.  On Thursday we joined Carla to collect food in the market for Compartiendo Sonrisas (Sharing Smiles), the Friday night meal service I mentioned in my last post.  With giant plastic bags in hand, we were sent out in groups to scour the market, asking vendors to donate to the program.  The majority of market vendors in Trujillo are just slightly better off than the people we feed at Compartiendo, so donating to USDA is an incredibly generous act.  This experience was a testament to the best and worst of Peruvian charity.  While many vendors were happy to give potatoes or a few scraps of meat to our collection, others saw a golden opportunity to unload all of their rotting food or garbage on us.  When we returned to the organization´s headquarters to stock the kitchen, we realized that many of the potatoes were spoiled and smelled like poison.  After emptying an entire bag of onions onto the floor for peeling, we discovered that the majority were black with decay.  The most horrific moment, however, was emptying the contents of a bag filled with discarded animal parts.  Dry heaving immediately ensued, and I told Carla that I just couldn't stomach this particular task. 

Following that morning of character-building work, I began to organize for my upcoming weekend trip to Huaraz.  My original plan was to go alone and spend my birthday surrounded by complete strangers in the foothills of the Andes.  Luckily, two of my new pals from Trujillo decided to join me for the adventure; Ruwan, who I introduced last week, and Billy, an Irishman who is working in La Esperanza as a nutritionist while taking Spanish lessons from David.

Back in Vilcabamba, I saw a poster for a place called The Way Inn, a beautifully constructed stone lodge surrounded by snow capped mountains. At that moment, I decided that if I was within driving distance of this fantastic looking place at any point in my journey, I would make a point of getting there.  When I realized that Huaraz was a quick, 9-hour, overnight bus ride from Trujillo, I booked my spot the next day.

On Thursday night, Ru, Billy, and I headed to the bus station in Trujillo bound for 2 nights and 3 glorious days up in the mountains.

When we arrived in Huaraz the next morning, Bruni, the co-owner, arranged for her regular driver to pick us up in town and drive the 11km up to the lodge.  It took us a good 30 minutes to navigate the rocky and perilously narrow road that is the only way (besides walking) to get up to the property.  When we arrived, we were met by Ian and Dava, the current volunteers looking after the lodge.  Bruni and Alex, the owners, live in Huaraz and entrust their property to traveling volunteers who stay on for weeks or months as temporary managers.  The inn itself was truly magnificent and the views of the towering Cordillera Blanca to the east were spectacular. I am a bit obsessed with this place so please forgive the excessive photos.

Ian and Dava informed us that we were the only guests at the lodge, which I suspected might be the case, given that it is the low season.  With that knowledge, we checked into the 10-person dorm room, aptly nicknamed ¨The Cave¨because it is literally built alongside a massive boulder. After settling in, we decided to take a quick walk to to to a nearby ridge. While admiring the views, we received side glances from the indigenous shepherds who bring their livestock up to the meadows to graze.  When we returned, I got a hot-stone massage from Dava (a gift from the boys), who used to practice and work in, guess where...
San Fran, of course.

 
             The main lodge (above) and outside ¨The Cave¨ (below)

View from the lawn

We spent Friday night in the main lodge with Dava and Ian reading our books and telling ghost stories by the fire.  The inn has a single generator that powers the main lodge and outbuildings.  On our first night, the electricity went on at sunset to allow for meal prep and was promptly turned off a few hours later so that the only source of light were the candles scattered around the property.  It was a spooky, cozy, and fantastic introduction to Huaraz.

We woke up Saturday morning, fully prepared for a long day of hiking up into the mountains. Unfortunately, it was raining and freezing cold, so Ru, Billy, and I unanimously decided to wait in in the lodge by the fire until the weather improved.  Several book chapters and a rousing game of Scrabble later, it appeared that the rain was slowing, so off we went in search of a beautiful lake that Ian told us about the previous night.

I haven´t mentioned yet that The Way Inn sits at 3700 meters or 12,139 feet above sea level.  Our hike added another 400 meters of altitude, so the going was slow.  About half way up, the clouds started to reform above the high peaks and the rain followed shortly after.  Long story short, we never made it to the lake.  It´s possible that we took a wrong turn or simply couldn´t see it because the cloud cover was so thick.  Regardless, we returned to the lodge a bit defeated and frozen.

Billy and Ru slacking on the trail

That night, the owners, Bruni and Alex, arrived with their son and a dozen of their close expat friends who live in Huaraz.  They brought along their chef, Eladio, and he whipped up an amazing dinner of asparagus soup, fresh trout from the inn´s pond, and baked pears.  After weeks of eating eggs, PB&J, and rice, I was in heaven. Happily stuffed to the gills, Billy joined in on a game of Texas Hold Em with some of the crew (losing S/ 40 in the process), while Ru and I had our asses handed to us by Ian in a pathetic game of Monopoly.  All in all, it was a another truly lovely evening at The Way Inn.

A massive boulder on the property.

On our last day in Huaraz, we set off on another hike, this time towards a giant ravine leading to the entrance of Huascaran National Park.  When we arrived back at the inn, Alex, the co-owner (and Bruni´s ex) was sitting out in the sun.  After innocently telling him that I currently reside in San Francisco, he launched into, what would become, a 4-hour, spiritually-themed diatribe regarding the impending apocalypse.  While it may seem like a bizarre segue, our new friend explained that SF and most of the Pacific Rim are slated to burn and crumble first. Alex, a practicing shaman and native Brit, is in the process of building a self-sustained, rainforest lodge in preparation for Armageddon.  At the end of the day, following a 30-minute car ride down the hill and a 2-hour dinner, Alex invited Billy to join him as the on site nutritionist at his yet-to-be-named retreat.  Ru and I, lacking any relevant skills, were, sadly, not offered a job.

It looks like I´ll be burning in SF with the rest of you suckers.