reflections leaving quito & arriving in huancayo peru

Leaving Ecuador was heart renching. 3 months is long enough to fall in love with a new place and enough time to become too comfortable. I feel like i could go back there and live and work in Quito- a quite strange feeling. I did not expect that of myself because i have lived in Bellingham so long i anticipated that the sense of settling into a new place would be difficult. But i have learned that i have a really strong ability to build nostalgia- even before having left, i had been internally catagorizing the sensorial experiences of quito into little bundles of meaning and beauty. And then suddenly, after chasing rumors of current regulations on visas for weeks, and, with false hope i was denied an extended stay- unless i wanted to pay an extra $200. This was not a good option becuase i only wanted an extra 2 or 3 weeks to look into microfinance banks; and i was getting ansy, worrying about getting too comfortable.

i left crying. my friend rode with me to the airport and the flight to Lima was nearly as emotional as leaving home. I was obsorbed in the feeling of remoteness, thinking about the people i love and why. the clouds are beautiful in a plane and it was stunning to look down at golden mist rolling over those varying shapes of earth below. flying in a plane by myself, to an unknown city, to an unknown experience without a sense of how long it will last or the next step is probably the most alone i have ever felt. but at the same time, it prompted me to think and feel very honestly. i thought about where my grant begins and ends and where my life and me defines what i am doing. i have a sense of urgency and desire to tackle microfinance, get results. how i get that done means i have to work with my personal challenges of shyness, self doubt, lack of experience. i am a cautious person in many ways and have learned from hard lessons that sometimes flinging yourself into unknown experience is not a good idea. at the same time, i like to take risks; i like challenges, and i am trying right now to balance the two. opportunities must be created and that means i have to have courage and believe in my abilities.

I have to some up this reflection with: as i write this i know i am in the perfect place- i am doing what i need to be doing. with mindfulness towards what i want to achieve and just accepting that it is challenging, it will all work out. Yes, it bothers me to think of other´s who could possibly do a better job than i doing the same proposal- but this is really a personal internal learning experience for me. thats the greatest value at the moment for me. In my sweet little haven of Bellingham, everything is pretty predictable. i know what to exect when i take risks; i know the social rules; whats to be gained and every street, tree and nearly every person by sight. in this journey, i have myself, and i think i am finding something out about what my substance really is. this is a really good thing, becuase i think the more i can trust in that, the more effective i can be at achieving my goals.

Huancayo is way up in the mountains, just a mere 7 hour winding bus ride through chaotic geology and bromelaids hanging from steel colored cliffs. I left Lima and its dank smell of stagnant sea, after a lovely night at a homestay with a family that picked me up from the airport and delivered me to the bus station in the morning. i slept hard but still had a stomach bug and plugged ears from the flight. quito is over 9000 feet high and Lima, sea level. as the bus headed out of town i realized that i really had seen nothing yet of south america. quito is very modern in comparison and as i looked out the window i was stunned to see endless rows of homemade bricks holding up rusted tin scraps where people live along the highway and straggling up the rust colored mountains, devoid of any significant vegetation- a very desolate view. i listened to bluegrass most of the way and devoured the view all the way to Huancayo.

I am happy to report that i found an organization that doesnt suck funds from students and provides a relaxed and supportive environment. they connect volunteers with an orphanage, a community children´s center in the middle of a brick-making neighborhood ( where volunteers direct and provide activities), a medical center and educational center for children. they helped me shop for paint for a mural in at the comm.kid´s center and sort out airplane ticket stuff. last weekend we went to see Wanki- Incal ruins and walked around talking about the history of the local area. in the future, they will be helping me translate interviews with microfinance institutions here in Huancayo.

Besides the painting project and assisting in art lessons and english at the community center, i have been spending mornings with toddlers and babies at the orphanage. my first day, i was nervous anticipating making babies cry, worrying about picking them up correctly or not understanding what they need. but as i was installed behind the barrier of a cradle blocking me into a room full of screaming toddlers, all fears dissapeared as half-pints waddled over to me with clinging fingers and toothless smiles. within half a minute i was pulled to the floor by four gregarious boys, wanting to sit on me, touch my hair, put there fingers in my nose. i played hard that day with 9 kids. all boys but for one. it was a triumphant day and i felt quite joyful walking in the cool breeze home, looking at the purple mountains that surround the valley of Huancayo.

The next day i spent with the babies and it was all as much satisfying as the day before although a bit more serious. these kids stay in cribs until they can walk and that means that they dont get enough excerise or stimulation. nurses run around changing and feeding and hardly have time for playing with the kids. The babies are complacent and silent most of the time, not making the normal cooing noises and screaches. they do cry. i have gotten to know a few of their personalities and work on getting them to copy my noises and encourage them to explore. i hold them and sing bluegrass and play with their feet and hands. i really like it becuase when they engage with interest i feel like i have added to their development. there is one boy that is hardly paid attention to becuase he is disabled and cannot sit up, walk or hold his head up. i have just made friends with him and carry him around the nursery and play with toys with him. now that i have seen his amazing smile, i want to keep finding ways to help him.

Lastly, I have found a symposium on microfinance as a peackeeping tool that is taking place on the 22 and 23 or January in Cali, Colombia. I have to go! I am now registered and today am buying a plane ticket. I plan to take notes and then spend a day or two writing it out here on the blog. Its one of the things i have wanted to do on this journey and so i am making it happen. I hope to return here to Huancayo becuase so many of the right things are accessable to me here.
chow!