Festina Lente

My work here will (eventually, after I learn to speak Espaneesh) be working with small formal (read: legal) and informal (don’t pay taxes) businesses in rural areas of Peru. So for the next three months while I’m Chosica/Yanacoto/Chacalayo my job is first and foremost to learn Spanish and to get comfortable with going up to strangers in the community and talking to them about their livelihoods, their problems, their hopes, their dreams, who they are rooting for in American Idol, etc. A few days ago we got an assignment to head into town and try to find the most unique informal business on the streets of Chosica. I went with Greg and Don, two fellows in my group, to the marketplace to see what we could see.

What we saw was a lot of dead animals for sale and their insides. The best/worst was when a dude walked by with a dead pig over his shoulder. A huge dead pig with all the blood drained out just drip dropping blood along the street as he passed. The guy stopped to cut the pig’s head off before he stuck him in a freezer (and almost closed a small child in there who was watching) and I wish I had been cognizant enough to snap a photo but I was too mesmerized. I did manage to catch a few shots of the insides of a chicken (more on that later) See below:

All well and good (is my english getting worse? It feels like it), but we still had not encountered a really interesting informal business. We were lucky enough after a few hours to bump into a boa constrictor and his owner. We met this fellow who goes out into the jungle every few months and brings back various goodies such as snakes, tiger skins, plant juices and some other dead animal that I could not recognize. His main commodity is snake fat which is great for cuts and bruises (FYI). We spoke with him for a while about his business, his goods, his customers, his marketing techniques (pretty good when you have a six foot long boa constrictor in your ‘window’) and then he let me hold his snake. HIS BOA! Come on – mind out of the gutter:

We had to move twice because the polizia kept telling him to go away. A lot of the informal businesses here in the city, much like in other cities, are constantly on the go; they cannot stay in one place too long or they will be told to move. This was a great find though. Others we heard about were a guy who sits with a scale in front of him on the sidewalk and you pay him a few cents to weigh yourself. Then he tells you if you are too fat or too skinny. Also, some dudes who sit in the park with typewriters and type up formal papers for people who cannot read/write/type which I think is a great idea.

I have a few other tales because I’m a bit backed up on the old blog here, so I’m just going to get it all down now and then try to post shorter posts more frequently. As I mentioned, I live in Yanacoto, and 11 other people from my group live here as well. A few of us got together on Saturday to play in a volleyball game against a group of mothers from the neighborhood. There was a big celebration for the Mayor of the entire community and we were a small part of the exhibition (Team name: Gringitos). We are a pretty athletic group overall and had one girl who actually played vball in college, Nevertheless, we got our asses handed to us. Those mommies were vicious but everyone had a good time anyways. I even dove for a ball (and missed). Went to a discoteca last night (Saturday) with some girls and danced the night away which was really fun and relaxing. I think my temporary problem of having two left feet has passed b/c I danced up a storm. Perhaps I will learn salsa afterall; I’m currently looking for classes in my neighborhood. Anyway, the discoteca was in a museum which was pretty cool and they played 30% American music but none of it was from after 1985, I felt like I was in Miami Vice or something, though I’ve never actually seen that show.

Today (Sunday) I helped my Peruvian momma prepare arroz con pollo which is a delicious dish and I got pretty intimate with the chicken innards. We bought the chicken whole (but dead and de-feathered, thank Adonai), and had to chop off the head and feet and cut it apart and take out the guts and clean and prepare everything. Okay, to be honest I spent most of the time chopping veggies, but I watched her deal with the pollo and I did help a little. Next time I’ll take out the innards, and I’ll document it with a photo.

Though this won’t get posted until tomorrow (Monday) I want to wish my wonderful Dad a very Happy Father’s Day and to let him know that he can call me and talk about the weather anytime he likes. I love you Daddy!! Here is a virtual gift; it is a snake’s head and is supposed to bring good luck (you probably prefer it in a photo than in your hand):