By Alisha
Adventures in travel: Micah and I traveled to our department capital to attend a couple of regional meetings and to see other volunteers that we hadn’t seen since before Christmas. There are three primary ways for us to travel from Chota to our department capital, Cajamarca. There are buses that run during the day, which stop constantly to pick up and drop off people and that stop for a half and hour lunch break. This makes our trip between 7 to 8 hours. There is also a bus that runs at night which makes fewer stops, but arrives at our destination around 4:00 in the morning, which leaves us tired, cold, and a little lost as to what to do at this time in the morning. The final option is to take a pick-up truck to a town about 2 hours from Chota and then transfer to a combi that takes us to Cajamarca. This option cuts our trip down to around 5 hours because the truck and combi have better mobility on the mountain roads and don’t stop very often to pick up passengers. These trucks and combis also run frequently throughout the day making them very convenient. So Micah and I felt like the truck/combi combination was the way to go until our combi smashed into the side of a mountain during our last trip. We were about 30 minutes outside of our destination when a truck coming from the other direction swerved into our lane. Our driver (who was driving far too fast in the rain) swerved to avoid hitting the truck head on and smashed into the side of a mountain. The impact shattered all of the windows on the right side and left us wedged against the rocks at the 45-degree angle. Surprisingly no one was hurt. After the accident our driver hopped out of the combi and we never saw him again. Perhaps he went in pursuit of the driver of the truck. All of the passengers had to climb out the windows on the left side of the car and we then hitched a ride into the city. To say the least, traveling, especially during the rainy season, isn’t so appealing right now.
On the return trip Micah and I returned at different times. During the last leg of Micah’s trip the truck he was riding in ran out of gas. This meant that everyone in the truck had to help push the truck up the hills and then get back in the truck in order to coast down. Since I wasn’t there, this is really funny to me, but not so funny for Micah.
Experiencing loss: I returned to Chota before Micah (because he was feeling really sick) in order to facilitate our summer music program that we have been doing weekly with students who attend a school for youth with special needs. We have four young men in the group who we have really enjoyed working with and getting to know. When only three of the youth showed I asked about Henry, the other member. The members then proceeded to tell me that he had accidentally drowned in a nearby river on January 30th. After I made sure that I understood them correctly and confirmed the news with a teacher from the school, I wasn’t sure what to do or to say to the members of the group. It felt wrong to continue on with the planned project for the day, so I asked the guys how they were feeling. I guess I was expecting to see some emotion or share some stories about Henry, but I didn’t get much response. We continued with our project and no one seemed to know if a wake or burial had been planned.
An anecdote about Henry: After several groups, Henry couldn’t remember our names. We would ask him if he knew our names and he would always say yes. When we pushed him a little to see if he really did remember our names he called Micah "Profesor Gringo Grandote" (Prof. huge white guy) and he called me "Profesora Señorita" (Prof. young lady). Everyone had a good laugh and he continued to call us by our new names.
Drum making with our music groupUncertainty: It is becoming more and more likely that the children’s orphanage that we have been working with since arriving in site will be closed down soon. The story behind this is long and complicated, but in part boils down to a lack of funding. I don’t want to get into the complex relationship between the municipal government, caregivers, and the Catholic Church that I would have to in order to explain this situation. Hopefully the closure does not take place and will not erase, in my opinion, an essential community resource.
While the experiences I just shared are all pretty negative, I am feeling really positive about our future in Chota. I have realized that this is an evolving experience and that the ups and downs will continue until we complete our service in August 2010. While I am looking forward to the future, I am also trying to remind myself to focus on the present and to take advantage of this amazing experience.
A part of El Túnel, which was created in order to re-route a water shed that originally went toward the jungle and now can provide water to the coast.
Trout Farm
