A Peruvian Thanksgiving

As volunteers, we're lucky enough to get some free days of vacation during the year where we don't have to use our personal vacation days. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays so for the past few months, my group has been planning a reunion at the beach in Huanchaco to celebrate the holiday, eat some great food, and finally be together again after our first 3 months in site. I was a little worried that it might be a disaster trying to coordinate with 30 other people, but my friend Josh and some other volunteers who live close to Huanchaco really stepped it up and booked an incredible location for us. It was an incredible 4 days and one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had!

The festivities began on Wednesday when we left the rainy, cold mountains for the hot, sunny beach. Instead of going straight to Huanchaco with our friends, Lindsay and I had planned on going to Kevin's site for the night because he has his own kitchen with a stove and oven. We thought it was a good idea to prepare our food ahead of time rather than fighting with everyone else for the oven (especially because at the last minute, the owner at the hostal said we might not be able to use the oven at all!). Plus it was a good excuse to see Kevin's site! Since the bus driver wouldn't let us off the bus before we got to Trujillo (our final destination), we wasted about 3 hours back tracking, but it was definitely worth it in the end. Kevin's family is really sweet and it was fun to see his site because it is SO different from my reality. It is hot, dry, and desert where he lives! We thought his family was going to give us dinner, but after all of the traveling confusion, his family thought we'd eat somewhere along the way. No problem, we had cookie dough, sweet potato pudding, and beer instead - getting Thanksgiving started a little early! We were up late baking...it's tough being Betty Crocker, but somebody's gotta do it. The next morning we visited his artisans to see what kind of work they do and got on the road. We thought it would be a nightmare transporting 3 batches of homemade cookies, sweet potato pudding, pineapple stuffing, and homemade apple cider (not to mention all of our own crap), but luckily it was pretty painless. We rented out an entire combi to ourselves for the first leg of the trip so that helped a lot! We finally arrived in Huanchaco around 12:30 pm on Thanksgiving Day and were ready to get the party started!

Of course I called Hana immediately and met her for lunch. Our hostal was right next door to a delicious vegetarian restaurant so we went there and then spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out. We walked up and down the beach enjoying the weather and catching up with one another. I had to buy a towel because of course I forgot to bring one....why would I need a towel at the beach anyway? It was much harder than you'd think to find one, but when we finally did, I had 3 choices, Bob Marley, Powerpuff Girls, or a topless blonde woman in a bikini.....I'll let you guess which one I chose ;).

Josh did an incredible job picking out a hostal for all of us. It was right on the beach and had really nice accomodations. It is broken into an upper and a lower part. We rented out the entire upper part and some rooms in the lower part. The upper part had rooms on one side and an area to camp on the other. It also had a little kitchen with a refrigerator and stove that definitely came in handy during our time there (leftovers, anyone?). The upper rooms surrounded a huge patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. I know what you're thinking, what a life, but don't forget, we use latrines, get flea bites, take bucket baths, and get harassed on a daily basis. I think we deserve to spoil ourselves once in a while. There was a huge fire pit in the camping area and also hammocks everywhere. On top of that, we only had to pay $4 per person per night. It doesn't get much better than that!

Even though we had been planning this get together forever, lots of people came empty handed. Lindsay, Kevin, and I were so annoyed and spent a good 30 minutes bitching about all the free loaders. Here we had stayed up all night cooking and then we had people who didn't bring anything so ran out at the last minute to buy a case of beer for their contribution or we had a group of 4 people who contributed a fruit salad when Lindsay and I contributed about 5 dishes between the two of us. We were so annoyed because we wanted to have this nice big Thanksgiving dinner and now we had to worry if there would even be enough food to feed everyone. Kevin had brought some mac and cheese for another night, but decided to make it for some extra food. We decided that to be fair, those of us who made food (like Cheridyn and Josh who got up at 7 am to make the turkey) should be able to go through the line first and then whatever was left would go for the slackers who didn't bring anything. Well were we ever embarassed when everyone pulled together in the end and created a beautiful spread! We had everything from deviled eggs and mango salsa for appetizers to Peppridge Farm stuffing (thanks to Carol!), green bean casserole (thanks to Rory's mom), polenta cornbread, sweet potato pudding, mashed potatoes and gravy, pineapple stuffing, and the most delicious and moist turkey I've ever tasted for dinner! To top that off, we had pumpkin and pecan pies, a chocolate coconut log, and lots of homemade cookies for dessert! As if that wasn't enough, the sun was setting as we ate so we had this gorgeous red sky in the background. It was absolutely incredible. It felt like we were in paradise!

Before dinner, my friend Evan led a prayer thanking God for all of the delicious food we prepared, the opportunity to all be together, and for this incredible experience we're all sharing in Peru. It was really touching and hit home for all of us. Being in the Peace Corps is such an exciting, challenging, frustrating, and unique experience. We all come from different backgrounds and belief systems, but this experience brings us together in a way that otherwise would never happen. As I sat there listening to Evan with the waves crashing onto the ocean in the background, I thought, this is what it's all about. I joined Peace Corps to share my culture and learn from my host country culture as well, but I never realized how much I would learn and grow to appreciate my own culture in the meantime. I really felt like I was among family that day and I realized that these people are making this experience just as special for me as all of the Peruvians I've met. I felt privileged to be among such a strong group of people and told myself it's those moments I need to remember when I'm so frustrated that all I want to do is go home. After dinner, we spent the night catching up with each other around a campfire. We swung in the hammocks, sang songs, laughed, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was definitely one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had and one I will never forget.

The next day Hana and I went to breakfast at the vegetarian restaurant and hit the beach. I lathered on SPF 45 sunscreen because I know how strong the sun is here. It felt so nice to just relax in the sun since I'm usually bundled up in Bambamarca. We tried to go swimming, but that wasn't very fun. The bottom of the ocean is full of rocks (and I don't mean little pebbles). The waves would sweep up all of the rocks and then dump them on your feet and ankles. We tried to endure it for a little while, but after getting all banged up, decided it wasn't really worth it. I guess we spent more time on the beach than I thought because despite the fact that I put 45 sunblock on TWICE, I still got really burnt. It hurt so much that I couldn't even zip or button my pants up (all of my friends reminded me the next day that they all saw my underwear...haha). I couldn't believe how badly I was burnt. I knew the sun was strong here, but I didn't think I'd get so burnt since I put sunscreen on. Now it's blistering and peeling - really attractive!

In the month leading up to Thanksgiving, it was suggested we play a huge American football game among ourselves on the beach - in true Thanksgiving tradition. We decided to break up into departments (Cajamarca, La Libertad, and Ica vs. Piura and Lambayeque). There was a lot of trash talking leading up to the big day and then when the day finally arrived (Friday), I was doubtful the game would even happen as everyone went off in different directions. After spending the morning at the beach, Hana and I decided to relax in the hammocks in the afternoon to conserve our energy for the big game (since we're obviously the MVPs of our respective teams). The game finally happened around 4:30 that afternoon and it was a blast! Some of the guys on Hana's team got so into it that they drew up plays during lunch that day and were studying them before the big game. Lindsay and I drew those black marks on our faces with eyeliner since we're so hard core - we had to scare our opponents somehow. Haha. I was pretty sure I wouldn't contribute anything since I have no hand-eye coordination, but to my surprise, I made two pretty huge catches right at the end that almost led to our comeback (we lost by one touchdown). My catches were even more important because they both occurred on drives that ended in a touchdown and we got more points for it if a girl had made a catch during the drive! One of them I even gained some yards so I was pretty excited. Josh was filming the game (because he hurt his knee and couldn't play) and when I made one of the catches, Kevin said, "Josh did you get? Send that to Giff!" I was pretty excited. We played until sunset, but lost at the end. We all had a blast though! That night we had a great Mexican dinner at this place called The Wave (located above a surf shop), partied and went out dancing at midnight. It was so much fun to all be together again and get to hang out without worrying about having training the next day. It truly felt like a vacation.

Huanchaco is known for its really good surfing so Hana and I decided to take a stab at it on Saturday morning. We went to this surf shop and rented boards, wetsuits, and got a 2 hour lesson with one of the guys who worked there (who can surf on his head!). We practiced on the beach with a surf board he drew in the sand and I was pretty good at that, but you can forget about it once we got out into the water. First of all, it probably took me a good 20 minutes just to get out past the waves so I could come back in. I kept getting hit in the face with a huge wave and knocked off my board (not to mention the fact that I'd lose about 10 ft. of progress everytime). When I finally got out, the teacher would grab the back of your board, say okay you're going, and then give you a big push. How was I supposed to know when to stand up? I know we practiced on the sand, but it was a little hard on the water so of course I fell every time. I sort of got up twice, but only for about 2 seconds each time. After an hour he sent us in to the shore to practice some more, but we were exhausted by then and not about to go back out. We were also injured - I cut my hand on some glass on the bottom of the ocean one of the million times I fell and also really hurt my tailbone on this huge rock I landed on one time. While we were sitting on the beach waiting for our teacher to come to shore, Hana got interviewed on TV! It must have been because we looked so hot in our wetsuits. Haha. Wetsuits have got to be some of the most unattractive clothes out there.

Unfortunately our lesson didn't end very well. I didn't have any money with me so Hana was going to pay for both of us. She had a 100 sole bill to pay with, but of course they didn't have change because no where ever has change here. At first our teacher was playing with the bill, but then I noticed he didn't have it anymore and asked if someone went to get change. He said no and that we had to wait for his boss to come back to give us change. I didn't really think anything of it and just kept waiting. Later he had the bill again and started holding it up to the light. At that point he told us the bill was fake. I knew Hana had gotten it from an ATM so I said no it wasn't. He asked me if I knew how to identify a fake bill and when I said yes he asked me to show him. As I was pointing out everything I knew, I realized it really was fake because all of the things that normally prove it's real were off. Of course I wasn't going to say that it was fake so I just played it off. We had to go to the market so he said he'd go with us to get change for the bill and when we went, we found out it really was fake! We realized that the people at the surf shop must have changed our bill for a fake one since I saw him without the bill for a while. We heard that people do that, but didn't think it had actually happened to us. So poor Hana lost 100 soles in the process and those jerks made a 100 sole profit on us since we paid for our lessons on top of that! SO FRUSTRATING! Of course Hana was pissed after that so we went to lunch and got delicious milkshakes called Sueño de Oreo (oreo dream). It helped, but still didn't make her money come back. They told us we could just go to the bank and tell them we got a fake bill from the ATM, but when Hana went, they held it up to a blacklight and saw that there bank security stamp wasn't there so she's definitely out all that money!

by Saturday night we were all pretty exhausted so didn't do much. Hana, Lindsay, Kevin, and I watched Elf and went to dinner together before Hana had to leave to catch her bus back to Piura. It was also Jessica's birthday so I made her an apple cake. Turns out the pan I had was too small so the cake kept spilling over the edges. When I went to check on it, the oven was full of smoke because the drips had burned on the bottom of the oven. On top of that, it normally takes 45 minutes to cook and instead it took almost 2 hours because of the mess I had made! Oh boy. I'm sure the people at the hostal loved that, but at least I shared some with them. Jessica had no idea I had made her the cake so was really surprised when we walked upstairs with it singing Happy Birthday. To make her birthday even better, our parents met that night for dinner in California and called us! They live only about an hour away from each other so we asked them to get together and they did it on her birthday! It was a pretty chill night after that though and we went to bed pretty early.

Sunday it was time to go back to reality after this amazing vacation. We got on the bus at 10 am and 6 hours later arrived in cold, rainy Cajamarca. Peru 8 just swore in as volunteers so we copied maps for them of the city and bought them little coin purses to welcome them to our department (we have 7 new volunteers). We had a delicious Italian dinner with Joseph and then went to the movies. We were all really missing the beach already, but it was a nice end to our vacation.

And now here I am back in Bambamarca. I anticipated being really depressed when I got back to site, but I'm happy to report that things are going really well. I was really excited to see the doctor's family again and Rita too. I've also been spending more time with my little host brother and have been having a great time with him. Believe it or not, not even my lunch of pasta, rice and potatoes (really colorful) brought me down. I've been in such a good mood and I'm pretty sure it's because I leave in 3 WEEKS to go home for Christmas! That is all I can think about because it means that I FINALLY get to see Giff again after more than 6 months!!! Woo Hoo!!! Of course I'm equally as excited to see my parents, his family, and Amanda too who is coming to North Carolina for a few days too!