catching uppp

August 15th thru 21st
Saturday I went into the city to tie up some loose ends that were STILL dangling after finishing up a boys camp in June called VALOR. Then at 6 I headed to a wedding in Piura with another volunteer Alex. He was invited to attend the wedding of a girl from his site. We went to ceremony at a really pretty church and felt like we weren’t in the right place when the ceremony started sans the bride. The mass continued until at last 5 minutes before communion the bride walked up the isle, no pomp or music. IT was … awkward. I couldn’t stop giggle at the absurdity. No one else commented on it either, it was like the white elephant that only Alex and I saw. Anyway then we headed to the after party. They didn’t know when they invited him that they would be getting two gringos at their ceremony, weren’t they elated! It was like Disney World Piura version. I was invited, though knowing neither the bride nor the groom, to be in every photo with them and be filmed and toast to them and also included in the honor of dancing with the groom after the first dance which is normally given only to the immediate family. My popularity astounds me. I also was forced to be apart of the tossing of the bouquet, ehhh that was embarrassing, I never want to be single and look desperate at a wedding. Anyway while Alex got to dance with all the good looking girls 25 and younger I got stuck dancing with men 65 and older. I wanted to beat him. At one point I pinched him bc the guy I was dancing with had some wandering hands, needless to say Alex didn’t save me. When the song ended I yelled at him and asked why he didn’t cut in and he said that he thought the pinch meant that I was jealous of the girl he was dancing with and wanted him to dance with me which he thought was rude. I told him that he thought a lot about himself! It was a bunch of fun though. Neither of us had a watch nor cell, so we had no idea what time it was or how long we had been there. WE decided that after dinner since normally dinner is served at 11:30 during celebrations to leave, we danced out the door so that no one could stop us and prevent our exit with more drinking. When we got out we took a taxi back to the hostel to see what the other volunteers were up too. Everyone was in bed but since Alex and I used the wedding as a pre-game we were ready to head out and decided to do Casino night. The casinos here are all electronic and smell like stale cigs and trashy people. I has a blast though because, I mean I can entertain myself anywhere. Alex and I played roulette and won about 10 soles in 2 hours by placing 10 centavo bets. Yes we are pathetic. We ended up leaving at about 2:30 ish or 3 I forget now, because he was going to kill me. I get to nervous in casinos bc I don’t like to gamble. I think casinos sound like a fun idea but when the betting starts I like freak out and act like I’m loosing my right arm.
Sunday didn’t do much, skyped with the family and then headed back to site to catch up on sleep. Monday came around and I spent the day with my artisans and also I spent some time firming up the dates to start computer courses again in September with artisans from the associations of Paja Toquilla and Plata. Also, since I sold the design of my purse to a bunch of my friends I had to light a match under my artisans to finish up 2 purses that I had to hand over by the end of the week. They pissed me off right good because they had nothing done, even though I gave them the order about 2 weeks ago. They knew I was pissed but I couldn’t say much because this week one of the daughters of my counter part was really sick so she was really worried about her daughter and I didn’t want to be that bitchy person bugging her about work. It’s really hard to separate work from family when the whole business is inside the house. I know this before I came here though, considering how my mom works. So I was really stressed about whether the artisans would finish the purses on time and whether the quality would be up to par. Now, being Friday and having given the purses out I feel a lot calmer, but there was one point this past week that I just wanted to yell, but I kept my cool, thank God. Always in retrospect it doesn’t seem that bad. Tuesday I headed to the monthly mass that is given for my host father that passed in 98.
Wednesday I spent all day working on more inventories with my artisans. It is such a big project; I can’t wait till it’s done! Also I got a call from another volunteer in Piura, Vince who lives in the Sierra asking if my artisan and I would go up to his site and talk with artisan group about formation and getting started. Also, we were preparing the taller for Friday because Friday Grupo Romero Foundation came to film the taller and women. This was a really big deal for my artisans because in the past they didn’t get as much help as the other associations in the area, so hopefully after this visit GR will start putting more funds into helping our development.
Today I went to Piura to have lunch with Vince and his sister who came from the states for a week long visit, we went to Fresco Mar to have her taste the most Peruvian platter, ceviche! She not only was willing to try it but also enjoyed it! After lunch, I headed to my artisans to meet up with the Grupo Romero people. They filmed all the women weaving and also filmed the taller and store, bought some things, ate the ceviche that my artisans prepared and then headed on their way. I headed home shortly after.
I’m heading up the Vince’s site with my artisan tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well. Though I hope I make the bus at least; it leaves at 7:30, so that means I have to be up and out of the house by 6 to get there on time.

chauuuuuuu