A Streak of Bad Luck

Before I get into my recent adventures, I forgot to mention two other really awkward things that happened during the press conference. First of all, they were writing down all of our names and Rita told him I'm Kristen Cummings from Cuerpo de Paz. The journalist looked at me and said and she has "un Cuerpo de Paz"(a really nice body)......GROSS! Also, one of the doctor's was talking about the importance of always using protection during sex and he said, "A lot of people say wearing a condom is like eating soup with a bag on your tongue, how do you respond to that?" We were all really shocked and she was left speechless....wow!

So on to my stories. Jessica slept over on Friday and Saturday night and I decided to go up to her house on Sunday. I know, I know, we're such slackers, but we were actually be really social on Friday at the birthday and Saturday at the BBQ so we didn't feel so bad. On Sunday we were at the bus stop trying to find transportation up to her house and not having much luck. We decided I would stay with all of the stuff while she looked for a car. She had bought a lot of stuff since she doesn't live in the city and we also had 6 2-liter bottles of water because there hadn't been water at her house for 6 days and she needed to stock up in case there still wasn't any (luckily there was). I had a bag over my shoulder, but the bag itself was behind my body. Since it was a Sunday and market day, there were TONS of people in town and I thought it wasn't very smart to have the bag behind my back. Unfortunately when I moved it to the front, I noticed the zipper was undone and I knew I left it closed. Sure enough, my wallet was gone! Luckily I only had 35 soles on me (about $10), but I was still really mad. I was more upset that I had lost this really nice wallet that I bought from one of my friends (her artisans made it). As they say here, ¡Que cholera! I was talking to a woman on Monday who told me that I'm actually really lucky because she's talked to some people who've had 1,000 or 1,500 soles stolen from them on market days right after they'd sold their livestock that they'd raised for the past however many years! Of course I'm still really annoyed, but really thankful I didn't have more money with me.

I only have a really old twin bed in my room so whenever Jessica sleeps over, it's really cramped. Also, I'm always afraid we're going to fall through the roof and wake up in the kitchen (especially since 4 of the bed boards fell during the night on Saturday)! Anyway, on Monday I decided I needed to take care of that and finally get a new bed. When I thought I could move into the doctor's house, I had bought a new dresser, but now that I can't move, I can't use it because it doesn't fit in my current room. I was really upset because I thought I had lost all of that money ($100), but the woman who sold it to me said she'd trade my dresser for a new bed and mattress. Of course when I went by on Monday, she told me she had changed her mind because she didn't think it was an even trade. I explained that I can't use the dresser and I desperately need a new bed so I'd be happy to pay the difference. Her husband convinced her to let me do it so we went to find a guy to help me move everything.

The foot of my bed has a big drawer and two cabinets so it's kind of big. The guy (who's about my age) was carrying it out by himself and he hit a huge TV with it on his way out of the store and it went crashing to the ground! It was a pretty big TV and they had displayed on top of a stove so it wasn't on a very stable surface. As soon as it happened the woman yelled at her husband for displaying it there since it obviously wasn't very smart. We were all sure the screen would be in 1,000 pieces all over the floor, but to our surprise, it was still in one place. The front of the TV had a few scratches on it, but other than that, you wouldn't know anything happened. However, when we turned it on, it didn't work at all (I wasn't surprised since I heard a sizzling noise like something burning when it hit the floor). I felt horrible, but didn't feel like I was at fault since I was way inside the store. I told Rita about it that night and asked her if she thought I would have to pay for it, but she said no because it wasn't my fault.

Later that night, Karina and I spent 3 hours putting my bed together. Well more like, Karina did everything and I just watched. The bed looked really nice in its separate parts in the store, but it was a pain in the ass to assemble because it was made really poorly and none of the holes matched up for the bolts to go through. On top of that, the 7 boards they gave us that spread from one side of the bed to the other were all too long so Karina spent 2 hours sawing them all by hand! I insisted she just leave it and I'd go back to the store in the morning, but she insisted on doing it. It was such a headache and she was sweating up a storm, but now it looks beautiful and is really comfortable. Plus, now I can sleep in peace without having to worry that I'm going to fall through the floor.

So the next night, my host brother came to my room and told me someone was looking for me. It was the people from the store coming to ask me to give them some money for the TV! I was so annoyed. I told them I feel really badly for what happened, but it wasn't my fault and I don't think I should have to pay. They said if it were something that only cost 50 or 100 soles, they would just let it go, but the TV costs 700 soles and they had a technician look at it and he said it's not worth anything because the machine inside the TV had broken. It would cost more to fix it than it is worth. I continued to say that I was sorry, but that I don't have any money because I don't get a salary here. They tried to tell me that they never agree to make trades in the store and they made an exception for me and now look what happened. They said if they hadn't had done that for me then it never would have happened. They were totally laying the guilt trip on me saying that they are in debts with the bank and live in a poor country where there aren't a lot of jobs and they're just trying to make a living. I said I understood, but I really don't have the money to pay for it. They said they couldn't get any money from the guy who broke it because he's poor, but could I please just give them 50 or 100 soles. I'm poor too, but they don't believe it because they look at me and see a rich gringa no matter what I tell them. I told Rita I wanted to paint my face because I'm sick of being a gringa. I told them I'd have to think about it and after about 20 minutes of whining to me, they finally left.

After talking with my parents and Rita about this, I decided I'd give them 50 soles. If I were in the States I wouldn't pay any money because it wasn't my fault and I shouldn't have to pay, but that's not how things work here. After getting my wallet stolen and paying extra for the bed, I really didn't want to pay any more money, but felt that I should to avoid problems in the future. I have to live here for the next 2 years and I don't need to have a bad reputation (because the people here gossip A LOT). Rita said we should go to the police to have them decide who is at fault, but I said I didn't want that. The last thing I need is gossip about me bringing the police into this. I told her that I kept telling them I didn't have money, but they kept asking (even though they said they're not demanding money from me or forcing me to pay). She said I should go to their store, repeat all of my points, and say my parents had to send me money from the States to give to them because I don't have any. Otherwise, everyone in town will think I have all of this money to throw around. Even though I hate to lie, I agreed that this was the best solution.

Well would you believe that when I went to the store to give them the money they asked me for more? They said, can't you just give us 50 more? What ever happened to just being grateful that I'm giving you any money at all? I told them that I couldn't and reinforced that I'm a VOLUNTEER and don't make any money, that I was robbed on Sunday, and that I just paid for the bed so I don't have any money. They tried to give me the guilt trip again, but I wouldn't take it this time. I said that we really can't say the TV never would have broken if they hadn't changed the dresser for me because we can't predict the future. I told them that I understand they did this favor for me and I really appreciate it, but I can't give them any more than 50 soles. They kept telling me they are losing all of this money and that I don't understand. I was getting really annoyed and everytime they asked made me less and less likely to give any more money. I told them I understood, but they need to understand that I'm a volunteer and that I don't earn any money. I said I'm not going to ask my parents for more money because it's definitely not their fault and we shouldn't have to pay at all. I think they were really embarassed I told my parents, but of course they asked me about 3 more times to give more money. They also told me that anywhere else in Bambamarca the people would have made me take the broken TV with me and pay for the entire thing because the people here are really ignorant. Oh boy. After about 20 minutes, they realized I wasn't going to give them more money and told me not to worry about it. And here's the kicker, as I was leaving, they asked me to please remember them and their broken TV when I return to the States and send them a new one! Are you kidding me?

Oh boy. It's been a rough few days. Of course things were much better when I went to the doctor's house this afternoon. They invited me over for lunch and then we set up and decorated the Christmas tree! Their house was all decorated, but Carol wouldn't let them set up the tree until I was there. It was really sweet and really fun for me. I love the Christmas spirit and I hadn't felt it until today. Of course it wasn't the same as being home, but it was still really special. All I could think about was going home and getting to be with all of my favorite people for the holiday! I'm one lucky girl (despite a little bad luck recently)!