The remaining friends I knew and had invested time have
depart and I realize that the shared elements of this trip: the water cooler we
clung to (as if the only clean source of water), the hikes around the local mountains,
and the locations where a large portion of our service occurred such as: 711
(the local elementary school), the office, and parts of the more rural
mountainous regions, all trigger the longing I feel for my fellow volunteers,
my new friends. These locations, aside from holding amazing memories, almost
reflect my favorite part of the people who I worked with; they’re dynamic. Full
of life and constantly changing these places remind me of my newfound
relationships, constantly growing and changing and as a result of this; I try
to ascertain these amazing individuals intervention during this experience, at
this stage of my life.
Every encounter is an opportunity to learn so what I will
attempt to acquire from these individuals is a greater understanding of myself.
Now I explore Peru to reminisce on the moments I miss most, the ones in local
café’s divulging our deepest struggles, the brief moments on the roof where the
only conversation we have is about getting to another place, and the brief
glimpses of Mars in the late nights. I rationalize my remaining time as
potential to invest in my host family and few remaining friends. I think of my
project and the service I originally came here with the intentions of doing and
try to redirect my aims on making them into a representation of the worthwhile
time I’ve had.
This week I continued my trend of cooking Wednesday-night
dinners and having frequent movie nights with my family. I decided to make them
some soup that was cream based with dumplings, chicken, carrots, and my
favorite part: queso. For the second course I made an avocado salad and some
sauté beef cutlets. My family was blindingly grateful as usual except this trip
to the market I bought my mother a flower arrangement as I have dedicated this
final week to showing them how appreciative I am for their accommodations. The
tears that welled in her eyes as she embraced me in the market with a thank you
were somehow incredibly sad and also the indicator I needed. Her tears let me
know that her extra accommodations, and my extra effort wasn’t just appreciated
out of her being paid, but there was some emotional basis to this experience. I
realized that no matter how far I go, or how long it will be till the next time
I see her I will always have another mother in Peru.
Perhaps the most rewarding part of my week was handing out a
brand-new pair of toms to every student in the local elementary school, 711. At
this school I was able to look at the faces of all the kids, some with less
than quality footwear and ask them how they like the shoes, how they fit, and
if they were going to wear them again. All the kids were too eager to tell me
how happy they were for new shoes but even more blunt with telling me if it was
not the right fit. Physically putting on the shoes to the kids’ feet filled me
with a sense of accomplishment, or maybe the smell of young feet had me a
little out of it. Although my project does aim to improve a group within the
community, the women, this project brought me great joy because I saw the
difference as I left a classroom of kids with all new shoes.
My weekend continued with an exciting excursion to Pisaq,
the best cost/quality shopping region, with my homestay brother Nick. Later on
that Sunday we drove up as a family to Pumawanka, the local organic fish farm.
Not only was it beautiful but also I was able to catch a medium size trout with
my bare hands! After getting the rest of the fish with a net and a help of one
of the workers my mom showed me how to properly clean the fish. Instead of just
frying it the way she normally does she adopted some of my culinary skills by
dipping it in an egg batter I made with the chicken I friend the week before.
This small change in her cooking process made me really happy because it was
something I shared with her that she actually liked and employed using. Cooking
together has become these great moments of bonding for us. As we approached the
near completion of making dinner I thought this meal was too perfect to have
without the right drink, of course I mean wine. Slipping out unnoticed for 20
minutes I shopped around the local stores for a quality wine to pare with the
trout, avocado, rice, and tomatoes salad we prepared. Dinner ended in a
slightly inebriated success as we have designated Sundays and Mondays as our
days to experiment (alongside the family) the various types of alcoholic
beverages Peru has to offer. I’m dreading the goodbyes but looking foreword to
seeing my family in the states and sharing all that I learned with the people I
love.
With much love and confusion
Mateo
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