Thanksgiving
11.28.26
It’s been a good while since I posted my last update. The past 3 or 4 weeks have not been overly exciting work-wise, but were actually fairly filled with holidays and meetings. Of the past five weeks I’ve probably been in site for two and a half.
This past Sunday I returned to Piura from a 3 day vacation in Trujillo. Thirty two of thirty five volunteers from my group met at a beach hostel/resort in the department of La Libertad to celebrate Thanksgiving. This was my first Thanksgiving away from family and friends, so it was somewhat difficult. At the same time, it really doesn’t feel like the holiday season as the temperature is reaching the upper 80’s plus the fact that I’m really just living in another world. But anyway, we all had a wonderful time at the beach spending a lot of time relaxing beachside playing spades. I went fishing from a pier with a couple other volunteers using makeshift ‘pole’ made up of fishing line wrapped around a small square-shaped piece of wood. We actually caught close to 20 fish, 9 of which we took back to the hostel with intentions to cook them….as far as I know they’re still sitting in the refrigerator. Probably the most anticipated event of the holiday was the first annual Peace Corp Turkey Day Bowl. Volunteers from the north took on those from the south in a game of beach football. We northerners (the underdogs) won by a touchdown.
Probably the most notable event in my site in the past while is my adventure to Choco, a distant casario(small town in the mountains). I went with the two dentists from Tunal who were on an tooth extraction campaign. We were planning on traveling by truck which would have taken 3 hours or so, however the truck was not running that day, so we were forced to walk. The first day we hiked about 3-4 hours until it was dark. Most of the time it was raining, making the rocky, dirt paths very difficult to maneuver. We spent the night in a small school in another caserio through which we passed. The next day we finished hiked another 3 hours, finally arriving in Choco.
Choco is somewhere around 11,000-12,000 feet above sea level and is all but cut off from the rest of the world. It’s really about as rural as it gets. We were told that the supply truck(also used for transportation) comes from Lalaquiz only once a week. There is, however a mine somewhere nearby owned by an English company. The people have very strong feeling against the mines and all those involved in the mining industry as they tend to destroy a lot of land and extract the minerals for their own wealth. This said, they generally associate all ‘gringos’ with the mines. I, however, went disguised as a doctor, so I had no problems. Of course I didn’t carry out any medical procedures, but rather just enjoyed the amazing view of the country side. At that elevation the clouds are actually below. It’s somewhat equivalent to the view from an airplane.
In other news, an NGO has just installed internet in Tunal!! This means that I’ll soon have regular access to e-mail. So, feel free to e-mail me at ryanenelson@gmail.com. I’ll also most likely be teaching computer classes to various groups starting in january.
I must say that there is a lot more to this experience than I am able to write. Selecting themes about which to write is pretty difficult… so if there is anything in particular that you’d are curious about, please let me know.
It’s been a good while since I posted my last update. The past 3 or 4 weeks have not been overly exciting work-wise, but were actually fairly filled with holidays and meetings. Of the past five weeks I’ve probably been in site for two and a half.
This past Sunday I returned to Piura from a 3 day vacation in Trujillo. Thirty two of thirty five volunteers from my group met at a beach hostel/resort in the department of La Libertad to celebrate Thanksgiving. This was my first Thanksgiving away from family and friends, so it was somewhat difficult. At the same time, it really doesn’t feel like the holiday season as the temperature is reaching the upper 80’s plus the fact that I’m really just living in another world. But anyway, we all had a wonderful time at the beach spending a lot of time relaxing beachside playing spades. I went fishing from a pier with a couple other volunteers using makeshift ‘pole’ made up of fishing line wrapped around a small square-shaped piece of wood. We actually caught close to 20 fish, 9 of which we took back to the hostel with intentions to cook them….as far as I know they’re still sitting in the refrigerator. Probably the most anticipated event of the holiday was the first annual Peace Corp Turkey Day Bowl. Volunteers from the north took on those from the south in a game of beach football. We northerners (the underdogs) won by a touchdown.
Probably the most notable event in my site in the past while is my adventure to Choco, a distant casario(small town in the mountains). I went with the two dentists from Tunal who were on an tooth extraction campaign. We were planning on traveling by truck which would have taken 3 hours or so, however the truck was not running that day, so we were forced to walk. The first day we hiked about 3-4 hours until it was dark. Most of the time it was raining, making the rocky, dirt paths very difficult to maneuver. We spent the night in a small school in another caserio through which we passed. The next day we finished hiked another 3 hours, finally arriving in Choco.
Choco is somewhere around 11,000-12,000 feet above sea level and is all but cut off from the rest of the world. It’s really about as rural as it gets. We were told that the supply truck(also used for transportation) comes from Lalaquiz only once a week. There is, however a mine somewhere nearby owned by an English company. The people have very strong feeling against the mines and all those involved in the mining industry as they tend to destroy a lot of land and extract the minerals for their own wealth. This said, they generally associate all ‘gringos’ with the mines. I, however, went disguised as a doctor, so I had no problems. Of course I didn’t carry out any medical procedures, but rather just enjoyed the amazing view of the country side. At that elevation the clouds are actually below. It’s somewhat equivalent to the view from an airplane.
In other news, an NGO has just installed internet in Tunal!! This means that I’ll soon have regular access to e-mail. So, feel free to e-mail me at ryanenelson@gmail.com. I’ll also most likely be teaching computer classes to various groups starting in january.
I must say that there is a lot more to this experience than I am able to write. Selecting themes about which to write is pretty difficult… so if there is anything in particular that you’d are curious about, please let me know.
posted by Ryan Nelson | 12:45 PM
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