Urubamba

Urubamba is a fantastic word to say out loud, a small town sandwiched between mountains and a river, and my new home.

I'm living in a large house with two other volunteers and two project managers who are here on a permanent basis. The house is a mix of the modern (wireless internet), the rustic (gas oven manually lit with matches) and the confused (a scalding shower that lacks the pressure to add cold water).  There is a woman, Yovana, who comes to cook us lunch and clean the house, but I'm at least back to doing my own dishes and making my own bed. Plus, this is what I wake up to every morning:

The town sits at about 3048 metres above sea level, but despite being prairie-grown, I haven't had any problems. It's only been a few days since I arrived so I'm slowly settling in, getting into my project, meeting people and generally setting the tone for the next 5 months. It's as close to permanency as I can get, and it feels full of promise.

Hasta luego, Lima.

It was a satisfying feeling, to add the last ridiculously named health food store to my database of potential international buyers and send the document off. It's nice to think that someone might actually have use of it. Our entrepreneurs have some great products, especially the roasted sacha inchi nuts and aguaymanto jams, which could hopefully find solid markets in international health/gourmet food stores.

Next it was time to say goodbye to the co-workers that made me so feel welcome at the NeVos office. We had happy hour pisco sours in Larco Mar, the shopping mall perched on Lima's ocean side cliffs, before heading to San Isidro, where everyone gamely posed for this photo.

On Saturday morning the house maid, Maria, helped me read a newspaper article announcing the closure of the airport in Cusco due to violent protests against a government project to divert the region's water to the south of Peru. I was worried about my flight on Monday morning, but by the time I arrived in Cusco there was no trace of protesters and, in compensation for the interruption of service, a tourist appreciation day was being held. I got some delicious chocolates, kitsch souvenirs and a dance show to alleviate the boredom of staring at a rotation of suitcases in the baggage claim area.

Saying goodbye to Liz, my co-intern/interpreter/Spanish tutor/late night chat partner, was sad. I'll miss the luxury of working next to a Starbucks, the yappy dog who only recently stopped barking at my entrances, and Maria making fun of me each and every time I put milk in my tea.

Trujillo

Whenever Liz and I mentioned that we were traveling north to Trujillo people shook their heads and told us to be careful, usually following up with a story of a distant relative being robbed by a taxi driver or falling victim to another crime. As seems to always be true of my life in Peru, we were put up in a hotel in the cleanest, safest part of town and had no problems.





We were there to meet with the different businesses supported by
Idea Tu Empresa, who work jointly with our host organization Nexos Voluntarios (NeVos). The businesses are all very small scale, but it was exciting to listen to the entrepreneurs talk about their future plans and visions for their enterprises.



This woman has a stall where she sells used clothes that come from Canada, the US, and Europe. The clothes are apparently donated, but by the time they reach the wholesale markets in Peru each bag costs around 400 USD, leaving her only a slim profit margin. Orlando, the man on her left, is in charge of the projects in Trujillo.



This man co-operatively owns a large convenience store and bakery with five of his siblings. They sell anything you could want, and rent out the large second floor for parties. Their goal is to expand the baking side of their business and redesign the store, making more space for people to sit and eat. The project has helped him purchase a new oven, allowing for a larger quantity and variety of baked goods.


Of course, I spent a large portion of these meetings concentrating on the rapidly spoken Spanish. I perfected a facial expression to communicate "yes, I am interested, but please don't ask me to say anything". It's incredibly frustrating to understand a conversation but not have the skill to participate, like hearing the music and laughter of a party you weren't invited to. I really hope that once I get out of Lima (next week!), start my Spanish classes and spend less time with English speakers, my speaking will have a chance to catch up with my comprehension.

My first cumpleaños.

Last week, in the mountain town of Huaraz, I celebrated my 24th birthday by hiking from pre-Incan ruins to a natural hot spring, and capped the day off with tri-lingual conversations and home-made coca beer.

Thanks, Liz!

Mistura Food fair, Lima

A workday spent wandering a gourmet food fair is a workday well spent. I don't know how many business contacts I made, though I did pick up a few business cards to add to the office collection, which should count for something.

Granadilla (pictured above) was my favourite discovery; it reminded me of a citrus pomegranate with edible seeds.

I arrived in Lima on Sunday, August 29th. It took me an hour to find the man holding the whiteboard sign with "Julia Vanderham" carefully printed in capitals. We spent the ride through Lima discussing our respective names (first, middle, catholic, maternal and paternal), and Luis- Carlo kindly let me feel that my phrasebook Spanish was filling up a conversation.

My temporary Lima home is crowded with paintings and antique tack, and the backyard is filled with wild vegetation and a drained swimming pool. I spend a lot of time confusing the maid with my muddled Spanish and my awkward resistance to being served.

At work, I wear buttoned up shirts. I make excel spreadsheets, and read business plans. Our office helps small businesses get the financing and training they need to be successful, so sometimes I sit in on meetings with the entrepreneurs and by patching together the words and phrases I actually understand I can catch at least the gist of what goes on around me. Being in a business environment is more shocking than being in Peru. I never thought "equity" and "driving market forces" would be phrases I'd use in English, much less Spanish, but here I am, researching how to break into foreign markets.