Graham and Jannaya in Peru

Work Update!

2012-03-03T14:13:00.004-06:00

As promised, we’re finally posting some long-overdue photos of our work. Now you can be assured that, despite the predominance of more “recreationally-focused” posts, we actually are working here!

(To see photos of us at work, check out our Flickr album.)

I’ll begin by giving a run-down of the English classes. When we first planned classes out with the partners (ILEP, SEPEC, and Diaconia), we had eighteen official students in five different class groups (each partner organization having a beginner class, and Diaconia having both an intermediate and advanced class). Our weekly schedule includes twelve different class periods from Monday to Friday at three different offices throughout Lima. Graham runs Diaconia’s intermediate class, while I am in charge of all the others.

For the most part, the class schedule has remained fairly consistent. In reality, the number of students who are able to attend regularly is around ten. Many of the students who originally signed up have been unable to make classes due to their busy work schedules. So class sizes are small, but that definitely has its advantages. We feel like we’ve really been able to see improvements in those who have been able to attend regularly.

Jannaya, Isabel, and Johnny during ILEP's beginner class.

Understandably, you probably would be interested to know the purpose of our providing English classes to the partners. We’d like to share some of our insight into the purposes of such work, some of which we were aware of before moving to Lima and some of which we have learned since our arrival.

Our students work for community development organizations, and most of them regularly receive emails and other communications from foreign partners and supporters in English. In addition, a few of the students attend international conferences where English is the primary language. Improving their English skills is important to our students largely because it improves their ability to connect more effectively with international colleagues and supporters. In turn, this is intended to help improve the general functioning of the organizations.

There are many institutions in Lima that offer English classes. However, according to our students, these classes have certain drawbacks which make them undesirable or impossible for the partners to take. First, it is fairly rare for students to have the opportunity to be taught by native English speakers. Many of the English teachers here don’t know English themselves, so students learn English rules without knowing how to apply them effectively. Most of our students actually studied English in grade school or university, but were often taught in this way and therefore have retained very little. Secondly, taking English classes from an institution that hires native English speakers is very expensive for locals. Third, all of our students are very busy with their jobs, and a number of them have second jobs or are attending school as well. Scheduling time to travel to yet another location during the week to take English classes outside of work hours is not always very realistic or desirable for them. As native English speakers working as volunteers and offering classes right at their offices during the day, we’ve been able to provide them with English-learning opportunities in a way that is more convenient and effective for them.

Now, I (Graham) will share a little bit about my own work. Over the course of the past few months, I’ve been working with our three partners in Lima—Diaconia, ILEP, and SEPEC—to help them improve and maintain their websites. For my first and largest project, I redesigned certain elements of the Diaconia website to help them achieve better results with Google and other search engines. Next, I slowly translated their entire website into English and made an English version of their website available online. Finally, I made a number of other small aesthetic and technical improvements to the website and then trained one of the staff members at Diaconia to update the text, photos, and videos on their website. During the rest of our time in Lima, I will be working with ILEP and SEPEC to make similar improvements to their websites.

Graham with his trusty laptop.

My work on the Diaconia website should prove to be valuable for a number of reasons. Most important, perhaps, is the fact that having an English website now allows Diaconia to reach a larger demographic—one which includes potential donors or partners who only speak English. In addition, the website now features fast-loading and accessible headers, footers, and navigation menus. A lot of “behind-the-scenes” changes were also made to ensure that the website will rank higher in Google (and thus attract more visitors and potential donors), but also that the website will be more accessible to users who can’t afford fast internet connections or who are visually impaired. Finally, Diaconia can now maintain its own website, which means that it will no longer be as dependent on third-party IT firms (or on volunteers like me) for updates.

To see the updated Diaconia website in English, click here!

While the practicalities of our work are important, there are “larger scale” purposes to our placement here that are just as, if not more, important. As Kristy from CLWR put it (hope you don’t mind being quoted, Kristy!), we are “serving as ambassadors” here. We are here to be a part of the relationship-building process between CLWR and its partner organizations in Peru. In addition, we are here to learn! Those of you who have done international volunteer work would probably agree with us on this. Although we are here to be of service to the partners, often we wonder if we are the ones who are benefitting more. We have learned and grown so much during our time here. I wouldn’t call this simply a service opportunity, but an exchange opportunity. We are very excited to share our stories and what we’ve learned about living in Peru and international development work when we return to Canada, and we look forward to continued learning and growing throughout the remainder of our time here.

Speaking of learning, we have an exciting opportunity on the horizon – an exposure trip to Bolivia! From March 3rd to 11th we’ll be visiting CLWR’s office in Santa Cruz and touring some of its projects around Sucre. Of course, we plan to post an update and pictures about this trip when we return. We are very excited about this opportunity!

(To see photos of us at work, check out our Flickr album.)

Out and About

2012-02-25T15:58:00.002-06:00

We cannot believe how quickly the last couple of months have passed. April 12th is fast approaching! It seems to me that it can often be so easy to get into a sort of “pattern” when you’re busy living and working somewhere—as opposed to being on holidays somewhere—that often makes you forget about the interesting sights and opportunities that are available right in your own community. Knowing that our time here is almost up, we’ve been making a concerted effort to go out during our spare time to explore more of Lima. Besides spending time simply wandering around certain neighbourhoods to enjoy the views and the ambience, here are some of Lima’s sites that we’ve visited in the last month or so:

(If you don't have time to read all of this, you can skip to our photo gallery here.)

Circuito Mágico del Agua – We actually visited this back when Ruth and Grace were in town, but we forgot to post about it. It’s basically a giant fountain park on steroids, complete with flashing lights, loud music, and screaming children everywhere. We’ve included a short video of one of the fountain shows, with images projected onto the water, which might give you a sense of the intense theatrics. A zany experience, to be sure.

Museo Pedro de Osma – A small museum housed in an old mansion in the historic Barranco district. Here we saw a collection of colonial art, silverwork, and furniture. We enjoyed the mansion itself and the museum grounds the most (sometimes the old religious art here has an overtly melodramatic quality that can be a bit overwhelming). It was fun wandering around the old Barranco neighbourhood. We love being close to so much history.

Parque de las Leyendas – A zoo! Neither of us had been to an animal park in ages. The sight is geared towards kids, but that didn’t stop us and our fellow expat zoo-goers from having a delightful time. One of the highlights for me was exploring the jungle area. I so badly want to visit the Amazon rainforest while we are here, but it looks like we’ll have to wait for a future trip to South America. I guess seeing the jungle zone at the park will have to tide me over until then. We also really enjoyed seeing the African animals in the international zone, and the many colourful birds.

Can you believe those colours?! He doesn't seem so happy about
the chain link fence, though.

Cerro San Cristobal – Our Spanish tutor, Samuel, offered to take us up to Cerro San Cristobal (a giant hill in Lima) to get a good view of the city. Joined by Steffi, we had to take a bus up to the top, as the surrounding neighbourhood is particularly dangerous for people on foot. What a great city view! We got a really good sense of how massively expansive the city is and how certain districts are laid out in relation to each other. In hindsight, we would have visited the hill earlier in our placement here to get a clearer sense of the city layout. Late is better than never, though! We had a fun time hanging out with Samuel and Steffi.

La Punta and Fortaleza del Real Felipe in Callao – Edelvis from Diaconia generously offered to show us around this beautiful area in the north of Lima. The beach neighbourhood was so clean and had so many beautiful old buildings! It felt like a very different place. Afterwards, we also toured the fort, which was originally built in the 18th-century to protect against pirates.

Trip to El Centro – Graham and I have a long list of sites we want to visit in El Centro, and we recently returned there so that we could start crossing more of these off. We began with a visit to the Museo de Arte de Lima, which had a couple of small exhibits open for viewing as the museum is currently undergoing renovations. We then continued on to the Museo Andrés del Castillo, which was a highlight. It’s a small private collection housed in a beautiful 19th-century mansion. Sometimes it’s the small private collections that I enjoy the most. There were some interesting pre-Incan ceramics and textiles, but the main attraction (for us, anyways) was its collection of minerals. The museum houses several rooms where various minerals from Peru and other South American countries are beautifully displayed. I guess you could say that we are armchair rock nerds, so we were in our glory! Our last stop was at La Casa de la Gastronomía Peruana, where we learned about a very important aspect of Peruvian culture: its cuisine. I would say that probably 90% of the taxi drivers that we’ve visited with here ask us what we think of Peruvian food. Peruvian cuisine is a great source of pride—as it should be! Unfortunately, La Casa is a very new museum and was only partially open at the time of our visit. We were especially sad not to have access to the Pisco exhibit. But we were very impressed by what we did see: nicely laid out displays of Peruvian cuisine, including information on its history, special techniques, geographical variations, and other items of interest such as typical kitchenware throughout the centuries and information on Peruvian fruits (we love the fruit here). Unfortunately, no samples were offered. But that’s okay, because immediately after we took the bus to Miraflores to eat a special dinner at Panchita, which is one of several restaurants designed by Peru’s all-star chef, Gastón Acurio. Graham was sick on Valentine’s Day, so we decided to make this a special outing. We feasted on an abundance of delicious Peruvian cuisine. It was a nice way to follow up our visit to La Casa.

We like rocks and we don't care who knows!

Santa Maria beach – This past Monday, Tom invited us to join him and his son Anthony on an outing to Santa Maria, where you can find a beautiful sand beach almost an hour’s drive outside of Lima. We haven’t visited many ocean beaches before in our lives, so this was a delight. A highlight for both of us was trying body-boarding for the first time. Minimal sunburns!

Santa Maria beach.

We still have a fairly long list of things we’d like to see and do in Lima before the big move, so we’ll have to keep chipping away at that. For those of you who are interested in visiting Lima, you won’t run out of things to do here. We have been blessed by so many fun opportunities lately to learn about Peruvian society through exploring the city and spending time with different people here.

We’ve been collecting photos from our work, and Graham has some exciting new updates on his web work, so we intend to post about that very soon. Thanks to all of our readers for your interest, and thanks for all of the encouraging messages we’ve been receiving! Hearing from you really means a lot to us.

P.S. You can view more of our photos related to this post here.

A Virtual Tour

2012-02-07T21:43:00.000-06:00

Well, this post is long overdue! We’ve taken a video of our living quarters, so you can get a better idea of what some of our life looks like here. We had intended to do this earlier, but I guess late is better than never. Enjoy!

Hint: If you'd like to watch the video below in a larger format, just click on the "Watch On YouTube" link in the bottom right-hand corner of the video.

(P.S. We also intend to post some photos of our work, and links to Graham’s website work, over the course of the next two months.)

Our recent news? Last week actually wasn’t our best week. For the most part, work has been going well. The less-than-fine moments started with a few minor frustrations with our living situation. That seemed to set the tone for much of the week. We’ve had trouble getting full sleeps, we’ve both been feeling a bit sick, and lately we’ve been missing home. I recently learned of a hitch in my MLIS applications for next year. It made me quite nervous to learn of this with my first deadline being so soon. It’s been kind of tricky to coordinate all of this from so far away.

Even more frustrating was our laundry incident. There aren’t laundry facilities at our Cristo Rey home, so we have been dropping our laundry off at a nearby lavandería, which charges by weight and washes our laundry for a reasonable price. This has worked really well for us until recently, when at least nine items disappeared from our laundry and one shirt was returned stained. We visited the lavandería to ask about this. I won’t get into details other than to say that they didn't handle the situation very professionally. It was an extremely frustrating experience for us.

We are so happy for our experience in Peru, but it’s true that living here is certainly not without its challenges. We could go on for a while about that. Although we sometimes might not feel this way, we are thankful for how much we’ve been learning through them. We’ve been learning more patience, understanding, flexibility, and empathy, as well as thankfulness for our home in Canada. The challenges have also provided us with some insight into Peruvian society and the difficulties that many people live with here. We could go on for a while about that, too.

Things have gotten better this week. I now know that my MLIS situation will be sorted out before the deadline, and eventually we were able to get our laundry back from the lavandería (although we’re still confused as to how the whole situation happened). Also, we’ve been able to enjoy the company of good people, and we have some fun social and cultural opportunities to look forward to both with local and expat friends. When we feel overwhelmed by certain difficulties, or when our attitudes need adjusting, it really helps us to focus on the wonderful individuals that we have met here. Challenges or not, there is so much to be appreciated about Peru.

Santiago de Chile and Jugo de Rana

2012-01-27T20:49:00.003-06:00

Our tourist visas were set to expire on January 21st. Assuming we would be able to renew our visas with a visit to the immigration office, we began collecting documents and talking to the partners to prepare for the renewal process. We encountered two obstacles, though. One, the person whose signature we needed for the forms was out of the country for an undetermined amount of time. Two, we found out later that the immigration office does not issue renewals for tourist visas, anyways. So, onto plan B: a quick trip out of the country. After some hurried last-minute planning and coordinating, Graham and I chose the cheapest direct flight out of the country we could find. Thus began our little trip to Santiago de Chile!

Although the whole situation was initially a headache, it turned out really well for us. Santiago is very different than Lima. What we saw of the city was a bit quieter, cleaner, more relaxed, and more modern. The environment generally felt a bit more familiar. So, although we travelled further south, we felt a little bit closer to home. We love Lima. It’s a very colourful, active, interesting city. But our trip to Santiago felt kind of like a retreat. It was lovely.

A very happy Graham in front
of the Pablo Neruda house.

A view from Santa Lucia hill.

During our trip, we were able to take in a free walking tour, a visit to one of Pablo Neruda’s houses, a trip up the funiculaire to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal, and a free visit to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. We spent the rest of our time wandering around the downtown area, various parks, and the Bella Vista and Lastarria neighbourhoods. Our time in Santiago was fairly low-key and very refreshing.

Looking up at Santa Lucia from below.

Inside the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Now that we’ve returned, it feels really good to be back at our work in Lima. We were able to re-enter Peru with no trouble. We were given one hundred days on our tourist visas, which is more than we need for the rest of our stay in Peru (we fly out on April 12th). Graham is nearly finished his work on the Diaconia website, and will soon begin working on the SEPEC, ILEP, and ACT Alliance websites. Yesterday, Graham had a meeting with ACT Alliance, as they wanted to learn more about content management options for their website. Different options were discussed, and Graham should be hearing from them soon about what they decide to do for their CMS. In terms of English classes, despite the occasional class cancellation (due to meetings and project deadlines at some of the offices), my classes have been going well and I am encouraged to see my students progressing.

Today Steffi took us on a tour of Gamarra, a big, busy, noisy market area in Lima filled with all kinds of sounds and smells. Oh, and Kjersti, it turns out that you were right. They do have frog juice in Peru! Although we chose not to partake, we were quite fascinated by one particular vendor with a tank full of live frogs (fresh for you to choose!) and a gooey looking blender. Yum…?

A Wonderful Week in Cusco

2012-01-16T19:23:00.002-06:00

From January 2nd to the 8th, Graham and I took a little trip to Cusco! Since we are almost halfway through our term in Lima, we thought it might be a nice time for a holiday. What better time to go than during Cusco’s wet (and cold) season? Maybe we’re subconsciously missing cold weather.

We flew to Cusco on the 2nd, a day ahead of our fellow-travelers Ruth and Grace (grandmother-granddaughter duo, extended relatives of Graham’s visiting from Canada and the US, respectively), and Fran, so that we could have a bit more time to adjust to the altitude. Was I ever glad we did that! I nearly fainted on the street during a half-block stroll to a nearby shop to pick up some water. Graham was feeling mostly okay, but I spent most of the rest of the day in bed. I haven’t slept that much in a long time! What a great way to kick off the holiday.

A view of Cusco from Sacsayhuamán.

(To see the rest of our Cusco and Machu Picchu photos, check out our Flickr album...)

The next morning, thankfully, we were both feeling much better. Fran, Ruth, and Grace flew in that morning, so we met them at their hotel to debrief about the week. The plans for the 3rd had been left open for some more altitude adjustment, which was probably wise. Graham and I did some slow wandering that day, mostly for our meals and to see the beautiful Plaza de Armas. We are enjoying living in Lima, but it was so nice to escape somewhere for a while with fresh(er) air, less traffic, and less noise. Cusco is a pretty happening place, but it is still much more peaceful than Lima... except during religious processions.

One thing that I’ve had a hard time understanding here is the popularity of flashy, musical Christmas lights. They just haven’t grown on me. I was more than a little disappointed that evening to find the beautiful, historic Plaza de Armas decked out in flashy lights. Lights looped in twists and swirls all over the life-sized nativity scene, green rope lights dangling from the old fountain, and scattered animal-shaped lights, some of them complete with an irregular, twitchy flash. Maybe I’m not festive enough? Anyways…

The five of us set off on a tour bus early Wednesday morning to see the Sacred Valley. Fresh, crisp air! Priceless. What an amazingly beautiful area. We were able to stop at different points along the way for the view of the valley or for a particular site, such as the Pisac market and the ruins at Ollantaytambo. Graham and I, along with Fran and Grace, stayed in Ollantaytambo to spend the night while the rest of the tour bus returned to Cusco. We had an early morning ahead of us, but staying in Ollantaytambo for the night made it less early than if we had returned to Cusco.

Why? Because the next morning we set out to visit the famous Machu Picchu! Of course we had to see this during our time in Peru! We took an early morning train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (where I briefly met a woman who was born in Maple Creek – small world!), and then a bus up a winding mountain road to see the ruins. I had hoped for one of those “Wow!” moments when I first saw it, but it was really too rainy and foggy when we first got there to see very far into the distance. It was still a very interesting way to see the site, but we were concerned that we wouldn’t have any clear moments to get that classic, expansive view of Machu Picchu. Nevertheless, we went on an interesting guided tour of the site and learned about its history.

Machu Picchu

Around later morning/early afternoon (we kind of lost track of time), the rain finally started to let up. Thank goodness! We were starting to get pretty cold and wet. The weather was still a bit of a tease, though. Although the rain was mostly gone, the fog would stay for a while, then lift for a few minutes (at which time we frantically snapped as many pictures as we could), and then the site would almost entirely disappear again. In the end, we got some great photos of the site, although we really had to work for them!

After our tour, Graham and I went with Grace to see the Inca “drawbridge,” a short side-trip from the ruins. The main attraction of this trip is the trail itself – along steep cliff edges through beautiful, lush cloud-forest vegetation. It was stunning!

We got back to Aguas Calientes around 3:30 for a very late lunch before returning to Cusco. We had really worked up an appetite! It was the first time I tried Alpaca - tasty.

Graham and I did some more Cusco wandering the following morning. The best site in Cusco is the city itself. Still, we stopped in at some shops and visited the Templo y Convento de la Merced. There were very few tourists there. It was such a peaceful escape. We wandered around the quiet courtyard, complete with a robed monk trimming the roses, and stopped into a few rooms where we saw old paintings and treasures, including a 1.2m high monstrance made of solid gold, over 1,000 diamonds, hundreds of pearls, and scatters of rubies and emeralds. The main appeal of the site, though, was the tranquil atmosphere. That afternoon, we went on a city tour with Grace and Ruth, where we visited various churches and ruins around the city – La Catedral, Iglesia de Triunfo, Iglesia de Jesús María, Sacsayhuamán, Qenqo, Puca-Pucara, Tambomachay, and Qorikancha-Santo Domingo. There’s nothing like visiting old Incan ruins, with their monstrous stones, to make you feel small!

The following day, Saturday the 7th, was Graham’s 26th birthday! What a place to spend your birthday in! Graham and I kicked off the day with a delicious breakfast at Jack’s Café (Graham feasted on a dish called El Gordo – “The Fatty”), then a wander around the San Blas neighbourhood. We had been keeping an eye out for a hand-made tablecloth, and in San Blas we found one that was just right for us! We love the colourful handicrafts in Peru. I’d be interested in learning more about the various crafting techniques here.

Other sites we visited that day were the Museo Inka and the Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús (which, like La Catedral, was complete with a giant, flashy, musical nativity scene in the otherwise tranquil sanctuary). Later in the day, we met up with Ruth and Grace at the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo to see a show of traditional Cusqueñan music, costume, and dance. Afterwards, we went to a pub near their hotel for supper and for some much-deserved birthday cake for Graham. I think he had a good day!

On Sunday, we flew back to Lima. Trips are fun, but it’s always nice to get back home! The weather has been blistering hot here in Lima. Unseasonably warm, apparently. It was a bit of a shock to our systems! No sunburns yet, though.

It’s been good to get back into a routine here. ILEP and SEPEC classes have resumed. Diaconia had many meetings this past week, so they have requested to restart their classes next week. There have been some slight schedule changes. Elena has requested two-hour classes three times a week, instead of having a shorter class five days a week, and I will begin a once-a-week, one-hour conversation class with Isabel from ILEP in addition to ILEP’s regular class. Graham is nearing the end of his web-design work for Diaconia, although his translation work is ongoing. We will resume our Spanish classes this coming week, as our instructor has been out of town. I’ve been working on submitting applications to begin a Master of Library and Information Studies program this coming fall, which has been a challenge from so far away. We’ve enjoyed getting to know the new boarder at Cristo Rey, Steffi, a seminary intern student from Germany. We’ve also had the opportunity to try Lima’s proud new (20 years in the making) public service – the electric train! It will be a great resource but, like other means of public transportation in Lima, it is almost impossibly crowded a lot of the time. It’s yet another service that will help Graham and I navigate this city of around 9 million people, though, so we are glad for it.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading, and we send you our greetings from Lima!

Chau,
Jannaya and Graham

P.S. To see the rest of our photos from Cusco and Machu Picchu, click here.

Christmas in Lima

2011-12-31T16:37:00.002-06:00

While our bodies are still recovering from the Christmas festivities here in Peru, I think we’re finally ready to put the proverbial pen to paper and share some of our experiences with friends and family.

To cold-climate foreigners who are new to the country, Christmas in Peru is a wonderful, hectic, loud, and remarkably balmy affair. Flowers are blooming. Fake Christmas trees are dwarfed by palm trees. Every string of Christmas lights blinks at a stress-inducing rate, and some are even accompanied by two-bar Christmas jingles played day and night, ad nauseam. Fruitbread is everywhere, always.

On Thursday, Jannaya and I kicked off the festivities by treating each other to dinner at L’eau Vive, a delightful non-profit restaurant run by French Carmelite nuns and housed in an 18th-century convent with high ceilings and dark wood trim. The food—French onion soup, fresh ravioli bathed and baked in Alfredo sauce, steak au poivre, etc.—was delicious, and our waitress was a friendly nun who had recently arrived in Peru from Burkina Faso. After the meal, the nuns gathered to sing “Ave María” to all of the happy diners (see the video below).

On Friday, Jannaya and I joined Tom and his kids for a trip to a beach (San Pedro) in the southern part of Lima. We saw some dolphins, plenty of shy red crabs, and we got to play in the waves and sand for most of the morning. That night, Jannaya was also able to join Dana for a small but enjoyable Christmas gathering of English-speaking expat women.

At the beach two days before Christmas

Jannaya and I began the Christmas Eve celebrations by joining Fran at her apartment for homemade pizzas. Delicious!

Christmas pizza!

Most Peruvians have their biggest Christmas celebration on the 24th of December, and Jannaya and I were lucky enough to be invited into a Peruvian home to experience a “true” Peruvian-style Christmas. At about five o’clock, we joined ILEP’s accountant, Johnny, and travelled to his house in the district of Comas. In Comas, we visited with Johnny, his wife Janett, and his six-year-old daughter Josefina. At about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. we had hot chocolate, as well as desserts and other snacks. Later, Johnny showed me how to prepare Pisco sours, and I believe it was shortly after we finished preparing drinks that the power went out on the entire block—probably because almost every available plug-in was being used to fuel countless strings of hyper-active Christmas lights. In any case, we were able to finish our drinks on the front steps of Johnny’s house, which faces a large public square and park where groups of children were starting to gather to set off firecrackers and fireworks. The power never returned that night, but fireworks supplied all the light we needed. At midnight, the city exploded with fireworks. In our particular district, the festivities were quite communal, too, and Jannaya and I enjoyed making the rounds to wish neighbours and passers-by a “Feliz Navidad.”

(We took great delight in seeing the fireworks, which continued to be set off sporadically for the rest of the night, although we were saddened the next day to hear that in nearby Callao, approximately 200 families lost their homes as a result of a fire started by firecrackers.)

At about 12:30 a.m., we sat down to a candle-light supper of turkey (served with a spicy aji sauce instead of gravy), pasta salad, and various cooked vegetables. Everything was delicious—even in the dark.

After supper, we opened a few gifts. Johnny and his family were kind enough to give Jannaya and I matching Peru shirts. Then, until 3:00 a.m. or so, we visited in front of Johnny’s house and watched the festivities continue to unfold. It was warm enough that I felt quite comfortable outside in a t-shirt, even at that late hour.

The four Js: Johnny, Jannaya, Janett, and Josefina.

The only frustrating part of the whole evening was that our taxi, which we had booked earlier that day, was more than an hour late to pick us up. Janett and Josefina went to bed while Johnny continued to visit with us and some of his in-laws, but eventually we gave up on the taxi and got ready to spend the night sleeping on his couches. Of course, just as we were falling asleep we got a phone call from the taxi driver, who took another 30 minutes to show up. He refused to reduce his rather exorbitant rate, but we decided to go with him anyways, since few taxis were in operation that night and even fewer were willing to make the long drive to Comas. We got home at about 5:00 a.m. and fell asleep promptly, despite the fact that we could still hear fireworks being set off occasionally.

On Christmas day, we woke up, opened some gifts, and Skyped with family (mine in the morning, Jannaya’s in the evening). Tom and Dana graciously invited us to join their family for lunch, so we feasted again on ham, potatoes, and other delicious, familiar Christmas dishes. For dessert, Dana also surprised us with something we weren’t expecting to be able to eat this year: lefse! Christmas was now complete.

That night, we attended a candlelight service at Cristo Rey. We enjoyed singing some of our favourite Christmas songs—in Spanish, of course—and we experienced another first: fireworks during Holy Communion. Next door, someone had set off some rather loud fireworks, which, to my delight, made another appearance right as we sang “all is calm, all is bright” in an English-Spanish-German rendition of “Silent Night.”

Not much is silent or calm (or on time) in Lima, but we’re so happy to have had this remarkable experience. We wouldn’t trade it for anything—not even (or especially not?) for all the fruitbread in the world.

- Graham

P.S. To see the rest of our Christmas photos, check out our newest photo album on Flickr.

Peruvian (and Mexican) Fun

2011-12-18T18:01:00.001-06:00

On a separate, much lighter note, we have had some fun social and cultural opportunities lately. Two Fridays ago, we joined Fran and Justin at La Candelaria, a peña in Barranco, where we got to enjoy a night of Peruvian folk music, costumes, and dance. The show was fantastic, and it was especially fun to be able to take part in some of the dancing! I relished seeing Graham get dragged up on stage by performers on two separate occasions to participate in the folk dances. And he thinks he can’t dance! I’ve included a video of Graham cutting it up for your viewing pleasure.

This past Friday, Graham and I were invited to Diaconia’s office Christmas party, complete with a fabulous chifa lunch and Secret Santa gift exchange. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! It was a great opportunity to connect with the staff in a more casual setting, and to practice our Spanish. They have been very patient with us! I can already tell that it is going to be very sad when we have to say goodbye to everyone here in April.

Speaking of Spanish, Graham and I will finally start taking Spanish language classes next week. We are so excited to improve our language skills and we hope that this will help us to connect with people more meaningfully.

Other fun recent events: unwisely stuffing ourselves silly with too many delicious churros at La 73; Graham continuing to play with the expat soccer team The Kite Fliers in their weekly recreational matches; mysterious live musical performances that we hear semi-regularly from our home (but still haven’t been able to figure out the source); and attending an expat supper at a local Mexican restaurant, complete with a live mariachi performance (incredible voices!).

A quick work update: This coming week, Graham will be training Diaconia staff on their new content-management system for the webpage. Also, the class schedule has thinned out a bit for the weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year’s. A number of students have cancelled some of their classes due to end-of-year busyness and holidays. Graham and I are hoping to use the extra time to get further ahead on website work and lesson planning, and also to enjoy the Peruvian holiday experience. What an interesting time of year!

- Jannaya

Museo de la Nación

2011-12-16T09:33:00.002-06:00

A couple of Saturdays ago, Fran planned a trip to the Museo de la Nación for the youth of one of her congregations, San Juan Camino de Esperanza, and invited me, Graham, and Justin to join. It was a good experience for us to see a very different district of the city and to get to spend time with the youth.

We began our visit to the museum with a guided tour of part of its collection of artifacts dating back to pre-Incan civilizations as well as colonial artwork. There were many beautiful and interesting pieces!

Ceremonial headdress from the Moche civilization (c. 100-800 C.E.)

A depiction of various saints. From Ayacucho.

The area of the museum that had the greatest impact on us, however, was our visit to the 6th floor. The entire floor is one large photography exhibit, called Yuyanapaq (‘to remember’ in Quechua), devoted solely to documenting the internal conflict of 1980-2000. For those interested in reading a more detailed overview of the internal conflict, you can click here.

Here is a very brief, very simplified, rundown. Essentially, the internal conflict was initiated by the guerrilla terrorist organization Shining Path, and also participated in by another similar group called the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, calling for a revolutionary overthrow of the current social order through violent struggle. Political leaders, community activists, journalists, police stations, and universities were attacked as Peru was plunged into an era of extreme violence for two decades. The government’s response was equally heavy-handed, escalating in the 1990s with the use of military courts and “iron fist” tactics. Although the conflict is still ongoing, as factions of Shining Path still exist in certain areas, the government’s harsh response stamped out its immediate threat by 2000. In the process, however, thousands of innocent people were terrorized, wrongfully prosecuted, and killed by the government. Indeed, both the military and the terrorists deliberately targeted civilians, who suffered torture, rape, disappearances, and massacres. The death toll from this period has been estimated at nearly 70,000.

The Yuyanapaq exhibit we saw at the museum was created alongside the final 2003 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. While the Commission did not have powers of prosecution, its purpose was essentially cathartic. It provided a place for victims of the internal conflict to step forward and testify to the atrocities committed against them by both the government and the terrorist groups.

The “closeness” of the conflict has been thrown into even sharper relief for us as we’ve learned how people that we have met and befriended here were directly impacted by the conflict, as well. Although the Commission issued its final report eight years ago, stories are continually coming to the surface, and the website for the Commission has a Provisional List of Missing Persons who are still unaccounted for. Although it was difficult to see the conflict in photos and to hear its stories, it certainly increased our sense of the complexity of Peruvian society and our appreciation for the spirit of the people we have met here. I think it was very important for us to be exposed to this painful aspect of Peru’s history.

- Jannaya

A few more photos

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For your browsing pleasure, here are some general photos we've taken in Lima: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graham-jannaya/sets/72157628296494609/.

Barranco.

El Centro

2011-12-04T18:59:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, November 26^th, Graham and I spentthe day as tourists in Lima’s historic downtown district, El Centro. This city is so incredibly diverse! Each district feels very unique. It seemed as though we could have been in acompletely different city. You can seepictures from our trip to El Centro here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graham-jannaya/sets/72157628278365765/with/6454527603/

Monasterio de San Francisco (Click to see more photos...)

We started off at the beautiful main square, the Plaza deArmas. We could have spent quite some timesitting in the Plaza, watching interesting passersby and admiring the beautifulcolonial-yellow buildings. We soondiscovered, however, that lingering in the square would prove to bechallenging, as several groups of students had been sent out to the square toapproach tourists and practice speaking English with them. We certainly enjoyed the interchange but,after visiting with two different groups and noticing other groups slowlygravitating towards us, we concluded that we would have to keep moving if wewanted to see other areas of El Centro that day.

We wandered through the Catedral de Lima, where the remainsof Francisco Pizarro, the founder of Lima and the conqueror of the IncanEmpire, now lie. After that, we observedthe changing of the guards at the Palacio Gobierno before heading over to ElCordano for lunch.

My favourite site of the day followed lunch – the Monasteriode San Francisco. Complete with oldSpanish tile, a lush courtyard, catacombs, and a perfectly wonderful dark-woodlibrary filled with antique books, the monastery was an absolute delight. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted,so I was unable to record our experience in photos.

During our tour of the monastery, we even got a briefglimpse of the mass taking place at the adjoined basilica. I have to say, I was mildly disappointedthat, in such a grandiose space, the hymns were accompanied by a pre-recordedkeyboard loop. However, the sound ofhundreds of voices singing together in such a space, with such acoustics, wasvery special.

Following our tour of the monastery, we headed over to theIglesia de Santo Domingo, where we toured yet another beautiful oldmonastery. Finally, we ended the day atthe Iglesia de la Merced. Each of thesites we had visited were so ornately decorated, that by the end of the day, wewere feeling quite overwhelmed!

An interesting, and humbling, reminder: after our visit toIglesia de la Merced, we noticed a woman crouched against the side of thechurch, observing the activity as the crowds went by. Although she appeared to be shying away frompeople, we noticed that her face had, at one point, been severely burned (possiblyby acid). Whatever her story, we werereminded that, in the midst of all of the beautiful historical and culturalaspects of Lima that there are to appreciate, there is also much suffering andpain. It’s very difficult being facedwith that reality, and not always knowing how best to help.

On a separate note, here is a brief update on some recenthighlights: Pastora Dana and her husbandTom generously invited us to their house to celebrate American Thanksgiving onNovermber 24^th. Great companyand delicious food!

Work is going really well. We are becoming more and more comfortable with our roles, and we are reallyenjoying working with ILEP, SEPEC, and Diaconia as we both serve and learn fromthem.

Recently we’ve been enjoying the company of Justin, aMaster’s student from Ohio, who is spending ten days in Lima volunteering forILEP. So far, he has been performingsome much-appreciated cleaning and maintenance work for Cristo Rey, and I’msure there are more projects to come. Graham and I have enjoyed getting to know him and showing him some ofLima’s sites!

Finally, yesterday Pastora Fran invited me, Graham, andJustin to join her in bringing the youth of one of her congregations, SanJuan Camino Esperanza, to tour the Museo de la Nacion. Here, we saw a very different, and difficult,side of Peru and its history. We’llupdate more on that in a later post.

Thanks for following, dear readers! We hope that this post finds you well.

- Jannaya

Work and Play

2011-11-23T20:57:00.001-06:00

Just so youcan be assured that we are actually working in Lima, we thought we’d give therun-down on what our work situation is like right now.

Graham hasstarted working on the English translation of Diaconia’s website – a bigproject! He will soon be meeting withDiaconia’s executive director, Elena, to work out some deadlines so as tofinish working on their site by the end of December.

Englishclasses have been going very well. Between ILEP, SEPEC, and Diaconia, there are a total of eighteenstudents. Fifteen students are enrolledin three different beginner classes (one class for each organization), twostudents are enrolled in Diaconia’s intermediate class, and one student isenrolled in Diaconia’s advanced language sessions. Between the five different class groups,Graham and I conduct thirteen different class periods a week at three differentlocations. Class time, along with lessonplanning, ought to keep us busy while we’re here! We are really enjoying all of the people weget to work with, and are very excited that we get to spend the next fivemonths teaching them and getting to know them better.

Now forplay! Graham and I have had some reallygreat opportunities lately to experience Peruvian culture through its peopleand its cuisine. So far, we’ve had thechance to attend service at three different churches – Cristo Rey, Emaús, andBelén – all in very different city districts. We have been warmly welcomed by all! We exercised our Spanish-languageacting skills in a short skit at Cristo Rey, and Graham got to read part of the prayers ofintercession at Emaús a couple of Sundays ago. That same Sunday at Emaús, we got the chance to socialize with some ofits members as they were putting on a small supper fundraiser. There, we had our first (and definitely notour last) taste of anticuchos (skewered beef hearts). Deliciously tender!

This pastSaturday, Marcella (one of the women who lives at Cristo Rey) and her nephewOscar graciously offered to show us how to make Papa a la huancaína. The food and the company was first class. We enjoyed getting to know Marcella and Oscarbetter while practicing our Spanish and learning some new culinary skills. We’ve uploaded some pictures below:

Oscar testing the aji (pepper).

Peelin' potatoes.

Putting on the finishing touches.

Celebrating our success with Marcella.

Speaking of food, those who know Graham know that he is a bit of a foodie. In keeping with this, he has started to compile a food journal of sorts in which he will briefly note the interesting new dishes that we get to try in Peru. You can access this page on the right side of your screen, under the "Pages" heading (it's called "Peruvian Food Glossary"). Check it out! But keep in mind that it's under construction.

That’s allfor now! Thanks to everyone who is stillthinking about and praying for us. Wereally appreciate your encouragement.

We’ve gotsome exciting plans and opportunities that will play out over the course of ourtime here, so stay tuned for more updates!

- Jannaya

Photos (and a short video) from our trip

2011-11-14T12:18:00.001-06:00

We've uploaded a bunch of photos from our trip to Casma and Huaraz. Feel free to check them out. Also, we've uploaded a short video clip from our bumpy two-hour ride from Casma to some small towns in the surrounding mountains. Enjoy!

Hey, Gringos!

2011-11-12T21:16:00.001-06:00

After a brief but eventful “field trip” outside of Lima, Jannaya and I have returned to our temporary home-away-from-home at Cristo Rey. Here’s a short summary of what we’ve been up to since our last update.

Joker!

On November 3, we travelled with CLWR’s Program Manager for Latin America and Caribbean, Abdon Aguillon, to learn more about Diaconia’s ongoing projects in the Ancash region of Peru. We started off with a seven-hour overnight bus from Lima to Casma, and—miracle of miracles—I managed to sleep soundly for most of the trip. Unfortunately, Jannaya was so excited after watching the trip’s feature film (Mera Naam Joker) that she could hardly sleep at all.

Some of the Diaconia team in Casma.

Shortly after arriving in Casma, we went with Abdon to visit Diaconia’s local office, where we met some of its staff and heard about some of the challenges they face as an organization. Afterwards, we set out for the nearby mountains in a company truck with Robert and Julio to visit the farms of several of Diaconia’s promoters in the surrounding area. Diaconia has been working with these “promoters” to teach them about organic fertilizers and pesticides, crop diversity, irrigation, water treatment, and various other topics regarding agricultural best practices. All of its promoters are selected for training by their local communities, and they are responsible for maintaining their own farms as well as for passing on what they have learned to others in their immediate area. In this way, Diaconia is able to reach a large group of people in a highly effective manner, helping impoverished communities meet their own needs without compromising on important ecological and social issues.

Our first taste of cuy.

At one of the first farms we visited, we were treated to a wonderful lunch of roasted cuy (guinea pig), aji-spiced yellow potatoes, rice, and a cilantro-infused broth with cooked carrots and wheat. Afterwards, we toured a few more farms, all of which contained a remarkable assortment of fruits and vegetables. Climbing was often a bit difficult because of the steep terrain and high altitude, but we were constantly treated to incredible views of terraced mountains towering above dried-out riverbeds, Photoshop-green valleys, and stubborn boulders placed in the most impossible of positions. Despite the stunning scenery and the Eden-like abundance of fresh fruit, however, we received many reminders and impromptu lessons about the issues facing many Andean people, which include drought, extreme poverty, violence against women and children, corrupt government, pollution, and the contamination of important water sources by Canadian mining companies.

Massive sunburn (third day in a row).

Highlights from our second and third days near Casma include: meeting even more people who were incredibly resilient, resourceful, and kind; massive sunburns; eating pachamanca-style (we had sheep and corn with lima beans and rice); being greeted warmly as “Gringos!” and then being offered our own house complete with guinea pigs, chickens, and a plot of land for avocadoes, bananas, and other fruits; and accidentally ripping the crotch of my pants while climbing into the truck and then spending the rest of the day coming up with creative ways to remain modest and discreet. On the third day, we also travelled on the bumpiest road we’ve ever been on for a total of about 3 ½ hours. Abdon almost hit the roof of the truck multiple times, despite the fact that he had the furthest distance to travel to get there.

Finally, we travelled to Huaraz on a bus that climbed through the clouds to 4500 metres on countless switchbacks. Once it became dark it was a little difficult to see to orient ourselves, so Jannaya and I didn’t feel great. The next morning was even worse, since our bodies were still struggling to cope with the altitude, since I had also come down with a cold, and since I had somehow managed to throw out my back. We took the morning and early afternoon to recover, although we ventured to Huaraz’s main square to get a view of the snow-capped mountains that surround the city. After joining up with Abdon again, we met with another NGO called Recoeda to learn about their work. The next morning, we took a quick flight to Lima (with only one person other than us on board, not including the pilots). We were warned that it would be a rough flight since the plane was so small, but we had no problems at all and were able to enjoy some fantastic views of the mountains between Huaraz and Lima.

Aerial view of the mountains around Huaraz.

The next day we met with Diaconia, ILEP, and SEPEC to discuss expectations, scheduling, and other issues regarding our volunteer placement in Peru. The meeting went very well, and a lot of our questions and concerns were addressed by those who had graciously taken the time to meet with us.

Other items to report before I run out of steam:

The pastor at Cristo Rey is from Minnesota (Dana Nelson), and her husband Tom invited me to play football with a group of ex-pats on Thursday. Although it was a little scary to play with and against people who had grown up in countries obsessed with the sport, I was proud to score the first goal of the game—another miracle! After that things went downhill for my team, but it was still great fun.

Last night we celebrated Pastora Fran’s birthday with her. She treated us to freshly baked banana bread at her place, and then we went out for a midnight supper on an outdoor patio beside the illuminated pre-Incan ruins of Huaca Pucllana in the district of Miraflores. We had a great time with Fran and we look forward to spending more time with her in the months to come.

- Graham

Hello, Lima!

2011-10-30T20:36:00.005-06:00

We’ve arrived safe and sound! So far our time has been good, with a number of interesting challenges as well as blessings.

After our late night drive to our residence, Cristo Rey, with the wonderfully friendly Carlos, we met up with Pastora Fran who let us in to Cristo Rey and helped get us set up for the night. It was so good to see Carlos’s and Fran’s friendly faces! We have since settled into our room, complete with pictures of family and friends. I think we’ll enjoy staying at Cristo Rey. In many ways, it is different than the houses we are used to in Canada. Although we have our own private room, the rest of the building is shared with other lodgers, with ILEP’s office space, and with Cristo Rey’s worship space. Graham and I, being unaccustomed to the water in Peru, have to be careful to only consume boiled or bottled water, which makes basic tasks like drinking, brushing our teeth, and so on a bit more tricky than at home. It will take a bit of time to become completely used to a different bathroom and kitchen set-up, as well as having less privacy. However, the building’s quirks and charms more than make up for these challenges. It’s a bit of a maze to navigate, with interesting hallways and doors tucked in here and there. The windows are large with beautiful wrought iron frames. It has a tight spiral staircase, a feature which I’ve always admired. A few areas of the interior are open to the air (I love the breeze!). There is little sound-proofing in our room from the street noises, which is not so fun when you aren’t yet trained to sleep through the rooster that crows around 5 in the morning. However, because of this, I’ve also had the privilege to overhear some fine singers and other characters as they pass through the street. And, I think one of my favourite things is that you can climb a set of stairs to get up to the roof, where you can find a stunning view of the city. I like it here!

As Graham and I have only a very basic handle of Spanish, it’s been a challenge trying to work with the language barrier. We are very eager to improve our Spanish (no small feat!) so that we can connect with all of the wonderful people we have met in a more meaningful way. Despite our shortcomings in the Spanish language department, we’ve been amazed by the friendliness and patience of everyone we've met!

There is a conference going on this week, so a number of the people whom we are to consult with on our schedule are unavailable. We have had the chance to meet with Diaconia, and we very much look forward to working with them on web support and English language lessons! For those who are interested in learning more about Diaconia, in addition to what we will be posting on our blog during our time here, you can access their (Spanish) webpage here: www.diaconiaperu.org. One of Graham’s projects will be to provide an English version of their website, so that should be available sometime in the next couple of months.

From November 3rd-8th, it looks like Graham and I will get to join CLWR’s South American representative, Abdon, to tour a number of Diaconia’s development sites throughout Peru. What a great opportunity! It will be so good to re-connect with Abdon, learn more about Diaconia’s work, and experience the Peruvian countryside.

Graham and I had this past week mostly to ourselves to get settled in. We’ve had the chance to get together with Pastora Dana (of Cristo Rey), Pastora Fran, and Elena (of Diaconia) for tours of the city and social gatherings. We are very excited to explore more of the city and to get to know everyone better!

Of course, there is more that we could say, but I think we should pace ourselves!

- Jannaya

Long Beach

2011-10-22T23:42:00.002-06:00

Today was the last day of the ELCA Glocal conference in Long Beach. Wow, did we ever have a great time! It has been so inspiring to hear of the many individuals, churches, and other groups that are so deeply involved in outreach initiatives. Everyone, from the wonderful speakers and session leaders to the extremely talented singers and musicians, has really challenged, refreshed, and inspired us. We have been so touched by our wonderful American hosts, who have all been so friendly and welcoming. Our only regret is that we didn’t have more time to get to know everyone better. If any of our new friends happen upon our blog, thank you so much for your hospitality! We really hope that we will have the opportunity to see you again.

Tomorrow starts bright and early, with a 5:20 a.m. shuttle to the Los Angeles International Airport. By this time tomorrow, we will be in Lima!

Departure

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Tomorrow isthe big day! We fly out in the afternoonfrom Saskatoon to spend three days in Long Beach, California where we will beattending an ELCA conference to prepare us for our placement in Peru. On Sunday, we complete our journey toLima! It has been a very busy last few weeks,filled with preparations, sad goodbyes, as well as great excitement. Thank you to all of our friends and familyfor being so supportive during this preparation time. Soon we will be off!

Thanks for your support!

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We wouldlike to thank everyone who attended and contributed to the Trivia Night and the"Peruvian-themed" lunch fundraising and awareness events! Yoursupport and generosity is truly appreciated.

Fundraising Event: Peruvian-themed Lunch

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On Sunday,October 2^nd at 12:00, we will be putting on a Peruvian-themed lunchat Augustana Lutheran Church in Saskatoon following the 10:45 a.m. service. There will be soup and beverages, as well as a presentation and slideshow by Graham and myself. All are welcome!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who made the Wine &Cheese event such a great success!

Upcoming Events

2011-09-14T11:10:00.000-06:00

Hello, family and friends!

We just wanted to let you know about a few upcoming events:

On Sunday, September 18th, we will be giving a brief presentation on our volunteer opportunity during the 10:30 a.m. service at Bethel Lutheran Church in Frontier, Saskatchewan. Although the dates have not yet been set, we will also be giving similar presentations at Resurrection Lutheran Church and Augustana Lutheran Church in Saskatoon in the weeks to come.
On Wednesday, September 28th, we will be holding a trivia fundraiser night at Amigos Cantina in Saskatoon. The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. and tickets will be $10 at the door. For those who have Facebook, more information can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113983358706312.

That's all for now! There will be a few more events in Saskatoon before we take off in October, so stay tuned!

Welcome to our blog!

2011-08-30T00:47:00.000-06:00

Thanks for visiting! We plan to post information about upcoming fundraisers, our trip, and our partners before we leave for Peru in October. Please check back soon!

Cheers,
Jannaya and Graham