Dia de Accion de Gracias - A Day for Giving Thanks

I traveled to Lima, Peru (the capital) this past week to spend Thanksgiving with the ex-pats that were around Lima, along with some Peruvian friends. It was also our latest YAV retreat. We went to La Oroya, which is a town just above Lima by about four hours, one way. It is the minig capital of South America. We got to see the enviornemtnal and health disaster known as Doe Run. It is a U.S. run smelter, whose smoke stack out put has turned the greyish brown Andes that surround La Oroya a snowy ashy white. Also many of the children in the town are testing with abnormally high amounts of lead, way above World Health Organization standards. The people there are caught between two fires. The Doe Run smelter is currently shut down. The workers are still being paid a portion of their salary by a company that says it is bankrupt. Hmmm....It is an envirionmental mess, a silent Chernobyl for the people of La Oroya. There is a group of kids in the town that have organized to change what is happening to them, their friends, and their community. They havenamed their group CAMBIALO or ¨Change it!¨
Thursday we (The YAVs, Jed and Jeny, Harry, and some folks from the RED Manos Unidos Office) gathered for Thanksgiving dinner at Jed and Jeny´s house. All the faves were there spinach, green beans, mac and cheese, wau-waus (bread de Ayacucho), pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and a turkey (prepared Peruvian style with papaya and aji spice glaze).
The rest of the weekend was spent reflecting on Mark chapter 6 and our experiences in Peru so far with Jed and Harry. We also talked of the arrival advent. Our group reflection times had its ups and downs.
On Friday night we went with Jed and Jeny to a cultural discoteca, well sort of, called Briesas de Titticaca. It is like a dinner theater, but no dinner. You could get drinks and appetizers. In the middle was a large raised wooden platform and a large band on a stage above it. They played regional music as performers in full costume danced regional Peruvian dances. The costumes were quite ornate and colorful. You could see the infusion of Spanish culture into the Andean culture with the appearance of various characters. They also like to drag the gringoes and locals sitting anywhere near the dance floor out there to ¨shake a leg¨ as my dad used to say. Yes, this gringa with two left feet and rubber sandals ended up right in the middle of a dance that was a combo of and Irish Lord of the Dance and a Jewish Wedding Reception.
Finally, no there is no Thanksgiving (persay Turkey and NFL Football) in Latin America. I have been asked many times. Remember that is in American thing - the whole pilgrims freezing their fannies off in Massachusetts and being rescued by the native americans whom they mistreated. At one point I did forget, because someone wanted to go to the post office and I started to say you can´t do that it is closed for Thanksgiving. Not true, it was another day of work and school in Peru.

Gettino Huanta, the Best Ice Cream in the World

On Sunday I went to Huanta to meet up with Sara and Rusty (pronounced Roosty here), and a group of Presbyterians from San Gabriel Presbytery in California. They are a Living Waters for the World Team. This is their second visit to Huanta, as they are testing water samples for feasibility and building relationships by being present in both Huanta and Maynam. It looks like they may come back around May or June of 2011 to teach the Peruvians how to install and maintain the water systems.
One of the things that was slowing things up for just a little bit was finding a lab to test the water for nitrates and bacteria. The test strips brought along weren´t quite up to the task this day. That is when we got to meet Hugo. Hugo owns, runs, and operates Gettino Heladeria (Ice Cream Factory) in Huanta. he distills his own water and grinds his own fruit and other natural ingredients to make ice cream bars. He knows alot about water filitration and treatment. Hugo linked us to a lab in Ayacucho. Taking the smaples all the way back to Lima or even the US was too far. Hugo even gave us a tour of his micro operation, that produces a lot of ice cream bars in two shapes. One is a spiral and the other is a traditional bar shape. It looks just like a factory in the US only smaller. He has all the stainless steel molds and equipment, including the sterile room lined with box freezers for storing the product. He gave us a sample of the chocolate and vanilla swirl bar. A thin slice of heaven right there in Huanta. His ice cream is sure to please anyone representing the Department of Deliciousness because it is fresh and not covered in ice crystals (a sign of age) like the other ice cream vendors.
**If you are ever in Huanta and see a lime green ice cream cart marked ¨Gettino¨ pony up because you are sure to receive a superior product.**

Vamos a Comer ¨Ta Ta Ta!¨

So everyday at 1 p.m. I get on a bus and make my way back across town for a two hour lunch or whatever you wanna do with it time known as a ciesta here in Peru. I know some other Latin Ameircan countries observe it as well. Now do not think that it is an expamle of laziness or something else becasue here in Peru the time is made up by returning to the office, the factory or the field at 3 p.m. and continuing to work unitl 6:30 or 7 p.m.
I can usually eat lunch and sneak in about 30 winks (a nap) during this time period. When I arrive at the Sulca-Tucno House Gloria, Rosa´s sister, is cooking lunch for the whole family. Usually tottling around the kitchen or at her feet is her two year old son Eddie, Jr. or Graham (pronounced Graahaam).
Lately when it has been time to eat, and because he is more comfortable with me being around, Graham tottles to my door (he tottles because he broke his femur bone earlier this year when a TV fell on it) and says ¨Isha, vamos a comer Ta Ta Ta!¨ The first time he did it I had no idea what Ta Ta Ta was. Gloria came and said Äre you ready to eat, Graham is asking you if you want to come and eat chicken with him.¨ How do you get let´s go eat chicken out of that? Ta Ta Ta is the sound a chicken makes in Peru (like cluck cluck in the US) and so that is how Eddie Graham says chicken. His dad (Eddie Grande) said that whenever they pass a polleria or chicken restaurant he stops, points, and says Ta Ta Ta, that he just loves chicken. Therefore Ta Ta Ta it is, vamos a comer (let´s go eat!).

A Penny for My Thoughts - what reading does to us

So with plenty of time to read and reflect on what I read....here are some things that have come up, that I continue to reflect on, but reflections that are far from complete. I write this so that you know I am doing more than eating guinea pig, playing with llamas, and getting my hair cut this year in Peru. I have found it helpful to read articles and books, and then apply the the thoughts and theories to my work, a novel idea.
First, reverse engingeering versus blue print engineering the earlier being to take something a part in order to examine and study how it works, and applying that to the church, scripture, missiology, and cross cultural experiences rather than tangible goods like automobiles. Perhaps it is another word for analysis, but I think it is a different way of doing analysis. I am an analyzer. I like to look at things from a variety of perspectives. Next, the idea that post modernism is a black hole, with a gravitaional pull, where at the center throbs the question ¨Can anything be known, and are there absolute truths?¨ I am supposed to be of the post-modern generation. We ask questions, and we question things, but a black hole where it is asked can anything be known? I am not so sure that from this author´s perspective, I am totally post modern. I kind of enjoy some absolutes every once in a while. I dig the black and white, even though I live in a world full of grey areas. Then there is dialogue (around scriptural texts in cross cultural settings). For five years now I have heard various professors and theologians talk about and encourage contextual bible study. Most of them have been people of color. They have encouraged me to read the bible through a variety of lenses, and to consider helping others to do the same. Here at Paz y Esperanza that idea of reading the bible with a new set of eyes has come up again in some reading my coworkers have asked me to do. The readings are about rereading the bible through the eyes of gender. Since arriving in Peru and having been asked to preach multiple times I am trying to remember that I am the stranger. I am being welcomed into another culture in which we share the same faith, and one in which what I consider normal is someitmes the reverse. As I seek to sing the Lord´s song in a strange land, but also listen to others sing it in their own language I realize that both groups (I and they) are being invited into dialogue with the text and our own socio-political situations. I write my sermons and design my bible studies based on what I know, but am also learning to make room for my work to live in dialogue, and bounce off of what I encounter while living in cross cultural relationship with Christians in the Andes Mountians of Peru. In my internal dialogue I am asking what does this society, and church have to teach me and what do I have to teach it? I have found it very helpful to allow my environment to teach me, which is not always an easy thing to do. It requires humility, and admitting that I am not neccessarily always going to be the one at the center or a part of the dominant culture. This idea about dialogue sprang from a sermon on Claudio Carvalhaes´blog (one of my seminary professors). Claudio was talking with artist John Shorb who said ¨Dialogue invites exploration, questions, and a search for deeper meaning, a search in which there may be no answers and usually there are no absolutes.¨ I think that dialogue invites you and others to think about what you know. Finally, there is sacred realism or the discipline of holding truth in one hand and faith in the other. I like this, but just like the other three ideas I am still letting them marinate, so more on these four later as the year progresses.
**As I reread this entry I am begining to think that these four ideas, thoughts or theories seem to have common threads**

Salon Exotik (yes, with a ¨K¨)

Five dollar foot longs, no, five dollar haircuts. So, I finally got my haircut. I have been waiting the better part of a week. Last night my host family and I´s schedules finally coincided. Rosa and Sheridad met me in the Plaza de Armas and then we were off to Salon Exotik. It is located right off the main drag of Ayacucho if you will call it that. Ayacucho is a colonial city, which I have mentioned, so we went through this large castle like wooden door and past the libreria or office supply store and there it was. The Peruvian salon mothership ¨Salon Exotik.¨ I was wondering what I was getting myself into. My stylist was Jose. He was pretty good. It is a full service salon with manicures and pedicures, as well as massages, and haircuts and styles. The owner was propped up on the couch in the waiting area when I was done so we chatted a spell. Jose did a nice job. He even speaks a little English so it was not that hard to reiterate that I did not care for a ¨nuevo look¨this time. That is the first question all Peruvians ask you when you talk about a haircut, ¨Do you want it to be the same or do you want a nuevo look? There was even a doctor on site from Lima for two days doing BoTox treatments. That was my signal to politely leave, and pass on the botox treatments.

Web Page and Article Numero Uno

The webpage that Omar and I have been working on is now published. It is aimed at the Pastors and leaders of the Protestant (evangelico) Churches here in Ayacucho.
Part of my role here at Paz y Esperanza-Ayacucho is to build relationships with the churches, pastors, youth, and other church leaders. I will be inviting a pastor or another church leader, including the youth to write an article for this website around themes of justice, access, poverty, dialogue, and spirituality, etc. that is scripturally based. It should be interesting to see what comes out of all this. There is also a church of the week feature so that vistors to the site can get to know the churches of the Ayacucho area, ones they already knew, and some they did not.
I have written the first article, to get things started. It is in Spanish, so if reading and understanding spanish is not your forte you may want to copy and paste it into a translator or email me and I will send you the English verison of my article. Check out http://www.portaldevida.net/

Monday Mornings at PyE, Ayacucho

It is Monday morning here in Ayacucho so that means when I arrived at the Paz y Esperanza Office (8:30 a.m.), after a brisk busride across town and greeting Goofy, the office dog, at the door it was down to the usual routine. Monday´s seem to go like this...First, the PyE team gathers in the meeting room labeled the Salon de Terapia (the therapy room), and we have a round of singing Christian choros. They seem to be singing the same ones lately which is cool, becasue it gives me a chance to get to know them. Cuan Gran es El (How Great Thou Art), Cristo te Nececita (Christ Needs You), and Pescador de la Gente (You have Come to the Lakeshore or Fisher of People). They also try to sing one in Quechua too, becasue all of the speak spanish and quechua, and much of our work is billingual too. Their favorite seems to be Dios Taytallay which I think is God my pastor. It is the twenty third Psalm if you read the rest of the words. I am working on my Quechua.
After singing, with Henry and Felimon playing the guitar, we have a devotional. The team rotates who leads the devotional. I was two weeks ago with the Feeding of the 5,000 from John. Somehow I got roped into last week too by talking about my sermon I preached at a local church service on The Woman at the Well, becasue we were off Monday and Tuesday for national holidays. Today was Yanet, with the story of Job. So it is a time of praise and singing as well as biblical reflection around our work and themes. Next, the team goes around and all of the coordinators report on their activities for the past week and the coming week, as well as any other major things their group is work on. The departments are Access and Justice (the lawyers), Care and Development, Mental Health, Communications, Administration, and the Director. I share my time with communications and mental health. At the end our director Neri will report anything she has and then end by asking for what she needs. Then we all break up and go to work for the week.
Today we introduced a new member of the Mental Health team Ruth, and found out that Amanda is going to be leaving November 18th to work at the National Office in Lima for a year on a special project involving At Risk individuals. This is the second person that has been sent to the national office from our team this year. Carol, just left last Friday, to work on Disaster Preparation projects in communication. I am a mix of sad and mad at the ssame time, but I guess they would not get called to work and serve in the national office for a year if they were not spectactular at what they do. So there it is, Mondays @ PyE, Ayacucho.

Llamas, Alpacas, Vicunas...Oh! My

In the higher altitudes of the Andes Mountains here in Peru and especially around Cusco, a city east (maybe a little southeast) of Ayacucho herding pack animals is a way of life. They are herded for the wool and the meat, but mainly the wool. Sheep too, but in the areas I mentioned including Ayacucho the pack animal of choice is the Alpaca, a relative of the Llama. They are in the cameloid family along with their friends the llama and vicuna. Vicunas here are on the endangered species list. It is against national law to remove any items made of or generated from Vicunas. Their wool is incredibly soft, fine, and valuable. It is also hard to find so if ever in Peru and someone is trying to sell you a rug or sweater made of Vicuna at a "good price" just for you....take heed, they probably squish when they walk too!!

There is a zoological park here in Ayacucho, the city proper. It is run as a study lab by the San Cristobal University Huamanga located here. They have a smattering of animals from all over Peru, as well as some from across the globe like the male and female African lions. It was great to go once, but I do not need to go back. The one cool thing was getting to see the llamas (Ll is pronounced Ya), alpaca, and vicunas all at once so you can see the difference. Let me see if I can this right (top-alpaca, L-llama, R-vicuna). I know the vicuna is the light brown one. It is also a

symbol of one of the political parties here in Ayacucho.

Pacha Manca to honor the Living and the Dead

On Monday I was invited to my new friend's, Paco and Celia's house for lunch. I thought I was just going to join them at their dinner table. On the way over however, Paco told me they were having a Pacha Manca. I said "Like a for real Pacha Manca" and he said yes, not just in a pot, but like the one in the ground. YIPEEEEEEE!!!! I was so excited, and felt so priveleged to have Paco and his family invite me to observe one of their traditions. Paco and Celia were there, along with Frank their two year old son, but so was the rest of Paco's family about twenty of us. Celia told me that for just about all big gatherings the family meets and they decide what to eat or do ahead of time. Pacha Manca was the choice this year. The Dia de Los Santos is to remember thso who are living and the Dia de los Muertos is to remember the dead, which usually involves going to the cemetery or other burial site.

Pacha Manca is a language off shoot from the Quechua Pacha Mama or "mother earth". Pacha Mama or the mother earth was the Inca goddess that protected and oversaw the harvest and fertility. The ancient Incas made offerings to her for a bountiful harvest and fertility in child bearing. Paco and Celia explained it to me this way: You make an offering to mother earth by digging a hole and using incredibly hot rocks, and place meat, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables inside of it (that is the offering) then you cover it with ruffage, and burlap sacks, then dirt...then you wait. Two and half to three hours later, your offering is returned as a delicious and succulent meal, a gift from the mother earth of everything smoked/steamed.

As we, yes I got to participate in the "unearthing" it was so exciting, and the smells were just undescribible. The men dug around and removed all of the dirt. Then there were layers of paper, cardboard, and wood or what ever else they could throw on top. Next was a layer of wet alfalfa, then fava beans still in the shell that had steamed open. Then a layer of hot rocks. We had to wear those thick work gloves to reach inside. Then underneath was a pot for each family with meat in it. There was chicken, pork, and lamb. All self-basting in this juicy marinade/sauce that the meat had been in since the night before. There were even whole trout laid out on some of the rocks. As each family took their respective pot, a layer of just about every potato in Peru was exposed. There were camotes or 'Sweet potatoes" which were brown on the outside then a layer of purple over a bright orange potato-ness , white and yellow ones, and even the little purple ones that are native to Peru and rare to the rest of us. There was even a layer of apples (whole) that had been thrown in and steamed/smoked. Each woman had a meat pot, and an empty pot to collect their potatoes. When we got to the table each family divided up their pot and then went around to the other families sharing their meat and potatoes as each family had contributed something different. All topped off with cucumber and tomato salad, and this green Peruvian chimichurri sauce (green). Then we sat, prayed giving thanks, and we ate, until we couldn't eat any more. The "mother earth" had provided us with a bounty beyond measure.

Frank, Paco and Celia's 2 yr old son, preferred to just throw his at people who walked by or were sitting near, so he lost his offering and was put down to take a nap. Oh and when I picked up my fork, Paco leaned over and said "Lisa, Pacha Manca is meant to be eaten with your hands," so I did. After dinner we played soccer on the field that is below Paco and Celia's house with Frank, Lucas, and Kenneth (two of Paco's nephew's), Celia was the goalie.

Wau-Wau's

November 1st and 2nd are two days feriada in Ayacucho. That means no work or school for the most part. The days off are in observance of All Saint's Day Dia de los Santos and the Day of the Dead Dia de Los Muertos. Ever since Friday the market has been teaming, and I mean teaming with Ayacuchanos trying to buy up all of the Wau-Wau's in the city. As fast as the really cool Quechua women could crank them out and cart them over to the market, SWOOSH!! they were sold. Some were bought to consume by families here, as is tradition in Ayacucho, but a lot of the little Wau-Wau's quickly transformed into encomiendas as the Wau-Wau requests from Ayacuchanoes who have migrated to cities like Lima poured in. Family members scrambled to buy boxes and just the right amount of the Wau-Wau's to be sealed up, marked with a number and put on a bus (much like the one I rode to get here) to Lima where the family members would claim them, and little piece of their heritage. I went with Rosa to send 2 boxes to Lima. One to Katherine her friend and another to be split between her two brothers Julio and Leo. Wau-Wau is the Quechua word for "baby." To me it is pronounced exactly like the sound a crying baby makes. Normally the market is full of a variety of breads from Pan Frances (french bread) to the usual chapla, but this week it has been wau-wau's.

The wau-wau's are shaped like little babies. I am not sure if you can see it in the picture or not. It is a doughy and dense bread that is a slightly sweet. Like the innerds of a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon or sugar. They are baked and the eyes are raisins, and the mouth is usually a peanut. The tops are sprinkled with, well sprinkles and sesame seed. The wau-wau's can be large so they strategically place bamboo sticks inside for support. When they are fresh they are really good, but if you keep them covered up they will stay yummy for 8 days or so. In fact I am eating some right now as I write! They can be sort of addicting. They are sold year round here in Ayacucho, but Nov 1st and 2nd they are in high demand.