Hola a todos,
where shall I start? There is so much to say… I started this blog a few days ago, so nevermind the time shifts... First of all, I have arrived in the place of my research: Huánuco. A small, but lively city in the central
well, I'll start with something practical: my bed sucks. I’m lying here in my barely furnished room on a mattress that’s surely older than I am. Oh, and there is no slatted frame, but just some wooden planks. not that comfy.... But I should not complain, often rooms are rented without any furniture at all. So I should be glad with my old bed and my desk (without a chair!), and not to forget the really nice white curtains... However, this place is in a safe area and costs me (‘schlappe’, how do I translate that) 32 Euros. Ey, guys, not per week, per month! ;-) I’m thinking about buying a tv, because I safe so much money... I live with an annoying dog (you could also call him a white rat) that already had the guts to enter my (groundfloor) room twice, and an older couple, and maybe some other girl who might be the daughter, don’t really know. So getting to know people in this house might be a bit hard. The shower is cold and there is whatsoever no access to kitchen facilities until now (I’m so western, I need my fridge for cheese and milk and yoghurt ;-( ) which kind of sucks because from time to time I need my selfmade pumpkin soup and salads... this brings me to the next topic: food!
Peruvian food is good, diverse and tasty. But, they don’t really use vegetables, it seems, although they have them in abundant quantities. Every lunch (lunch is the big meal of the day which annoys me a bit, because I’m not used to it) comes with rice! Or with rice and potato or with potato chips or with pasta. But almost always rice (and it’s not even from here, it’s imported!). And Peruvians love meat (we kinda clash here, the Peruvians and me): every lunch comes either with Pollo or Res or something else. Well, today I had chicken (famous pollo a la brasa) with potato chips and one slice of tomato and a bit of lettuce. It was good, but 1) too much for lunch 2) too greasy for me 3) too much meat. I don’t know how it is possible to stay thin here without a kitchen, since this is what Peruvians eat most of the time (on the street): Pollo a la brasa, arroz con pollo, tallarin con pollo... Peruvian food is really good and rich and combines great characteristics from different continents (Chinese is really big here), but in a greasy kind of way. Yesterday evening I had the most amazing fruit salad ever, I did not even know all the fruits. Next time
Ok , now I’m sitting in my office (quite a dark place but luckily the door is open and the street noise can come in ). First of all, I’m burnt: face and arms.... argh, I totally underestimated the Andean sun! Well, why am I burnt? For the first time I went to the ‘campo’ yesterday to meet the farmer families I will do my research with. My boss and I took the motorbike and drove to the district Santa Maria del Valle, where we were supposed to meet some farmers. Although I had read a lot about poverty in
And now the story of how we got back to Huánuco... I love adventures... When I asked my boss, Ingeniero Ronald, the day before we went what I had to take he said: nothing special. And totally forget to advise me to bring sunblocker, a hat and well, something in case we would stay there for the night... so, when we arrived in that village (forgot the name), he was like, hey maybe we can stay the night. Me: eh, eh, maybe. But I have contact lenses and without them I’m blind (guys, you know with -7,5 it’s no fun running around w/o glasses or w/ lenses that have been in for 24 hours=you cant see anything either)... he looks at me really annoyed and says ok, then we go back tonight. But what should I have done? I was so resolved to actually take of my ‘western glasses’ and to be flexible, open and with as few prejudices as possible. But I could not be flexible in this case. I could not just have said ok, lets stay and the next morning wake up and either having to throw away the lenses (being almost blind) or run around with them not seeing much ( I don’t know if any of you people has done that before but I can’t stand that feeling). So what should I have done? In the end we went for dinner at one farmer’s house ( a friend of my boss), where we met his colleague, and then went home. Three people on the motorbike with 2 heavy backpacks and, here we go, without light. Yep, fun. The village is about 1 hour away from Huánuco, which is pretty ok with light, but in the evening around 7 when it gets dark, it seems quite far away. But there were stars and somewhere else the moon, so that was ok. What was not ok were the dogs. I really don’t mind dogs, I actually like them. But the dogs here are terrifying. During the day it’s ok, they ran after the motorbike and try to bite you, but during the night they seem even more aggressive and determined to actually try human meat. Well, you never know if these little monsters have rabies, so it is always recommended to slow down a bit and calm them down. Well, that’s what my boss did, but one almost bit me. I hope we do not EVER have to go back at night again...
Now, the research: I’m not that satisfied with my progress... I have heard from others they have actually started researching and that they have a lot of information and that the organisation plans everything and so on. Well, 1) I am in
Honestly, I don’t know if this research is going to work out fine. I still don’t know how I will approach the problem, neither if this is only going to be some investigation that supports the organisation’s goals. Maybe I need someone that really pushes me... My Spanish is ok and I can work my way around with the people in the city and my boss, but the peasants have quite a different dialect and I don’t know if I’ll understand all they say...
So, as you see there are a lot of challenges ahead: first and foremost the dogs, then the big and important research (if this does not work out I don’t get a degree ...haha), getting to know people (next week two students start working in the office, so maybe I can meet some people my age, since in my house that seems impossible ;-)) and of course the food!
One last word: although I have complained quite a bit in this blog I want to say that there are still great things in Peru: First of all my boss Ronald, the landscape and the sun, the juices and the fruits and the really really nice and open people!!!
Keep in mind: Life’s awesome and I miss you!
X
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen