Noche de Películas, Chocolatadas y Falta Promociones.

This week was a busy week for me! It’s the last week of school for the students of Catache - which means a full schedule for little ole me…

This week, I finished up my two “Noche de Películas” (“Movie Nights”) courses with the students of Segundo Grado A and Segundo Grado B in the Secundaria (students from the two second grade classes in the High School). My 6 week course taught them how to raise funds locally by doing a movie night in the Municipality. I taught them how to write solicitudes, create Junta Directivas (a Board of Directors), plan, promote, and execute their movie night - step by step. I only taught them the “hows,” and they were to do EVERYTHING - from writing and presenting the solicitudes, which movies to show, the prices, and times - to making and selling popcorn, preparing and cleaning the auditorium, and handling the money. To make it fun, I told them that they were having a little competition on which class can raise the most money - and with the money they raise, they were to buy snacks for their class for our closing ceremony / fiesta on Thursday afternoon. Last Monday, Segundo Grado A was to show “Rio” at 5:30pm for S/. 0.50 per person, and “The Indestructibles” at 8pm for S/. 1.00 per person. And on Tuesday, Segundo Grado B was showing “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2” at 5:00pm and “Castaway” at 7:30pm. They decided to charge S/. 1.00 for children and S/. 2.00 for adults.

Segundo Grado A - Junta Directiva

from left to right:

Treasurer: Jesus / Vice President: Jose / President: Pastor / Secretary: Elisa

Segundo Grado A - the class:

Segundo Grado B - Junta Directiva

from left to right:

President: Carmen / Vice President: Angello / Secretary: Juan / Treasurer: Leysi

Segundo Grado B - the class:

Well, Monday finally came, and it was a complete nightmare. They decided to meet at the Municipality an hour and a half before showtime. Of course, they were late - and even then, only a handful of students from their class showed up. They had problems with everything - aside from the popcorn sales. They forgot to pick up the projector from the Secundaria that afternoon, so between getting that and finding chairs and benches - it took over an hour.

Preparing the board for the movies:

I was (happily) surprised to see the President and Vice President from my other “Noche de Películas” class (Carmen and Angello) arrive and pay for tickets, just to observe and begin discussing a game-plan for their night for tomorrow.

Angello (VP Segundo B) standing up -

Carmen (Pres Segundo B) sitting in the blue shirt:

The children paying for their tickets for the movie:

The kids from my first class were finally ready to start at around 5:45pm, and there were problems with the speakers - no sound! - and all of the employees had already left the Municipality!!! They were so disorganized, wasting about 30 minutes just talking about what they were going to do - and to top it all off, there were 40 antsy 4 - 7 year old children running around the auditorium, complaining about not having a movie. Finally, the Vice President, Jose (who also happens to be the son of the Principal of the Primaria) went to ask his dad to use a speaker from his school. His dad came with the speaker, and a little after 6:30pm, they started the movie. Well, they didn’t test the movie out before putting it in, and “Rio” didn’t work! Luckily, the only mother of the 4 - 7 year old children who came to see the movie with her son ran to pick up a movie from her house - so at 6:50pm, they started playing some penguin movie for the antsy children - - whew!

But, the problems didn’t stop there… In the middle of the penguin movie, the Principal of the Primaria returned to say that he needed the speaker back before 9pm to use it for a presentation that night at the Primaria. This meant that they couldn’t show their second movie.

At the end of the movie, the disappointed 4 students who were left in the Municipality cleaned the auditorium, returned the chairs and speaker, and had to explain to the people that they sold pre-sale tickets for “The Indestructibles” that the movie was cancelled. What a night! So needless to say, I was dreading my second movie night with Segundo Grado B…

Segundo Grado B decided to meet on Tuesday 2 hours before showtime - and they were EARLY - with chairs in all of their little arms!!! Carmen (President) and Angello (Vice President) were totally taking control - giving directions to each group of students. The had the room cleaned and organized, the equipment setup and tested, and the popcorn ready to sell - with 45 minutes to spare! The difference between the two classes was like night and day, and I was more than relived!!! Since we had time before the movie, I asked Carmen to run to the houses of the President and Vice President of my other class and ask them to write down for my how much money they made from the night before, and to remind them to put someone in charge of buying snacks for their class for the closing ceremony / fiesta on Thursday. She quickly returned and told me that they had NO IDEA how much money they made - and they didn’t even know WHERE THEIR MONEY WAS!!! Ugh!

“Alvin and the Chipmunks 2” started on time to a full room of young and happy children!

The children paying for their tickets for the 1st movie:

The movie finished at around 6:30pm, and they had the room cleaned and ready to go for the second movie in less than 15 minutes! Carmen ran back to her house with a group of students to prep and bring more popcorn, while Angello stayed with another group of students in the auditorium. I felt so secure with them, that I could even leave them in charge for about 20 minutes and run back to my house to grab a jacket and relax for brief moment. I called Andrew to tell him how organized this class was, and how surprised I was to know that I didn’t have to worry about a darn thing!!!

As I was walking back to the Municipality, I could here music playing in the streets of Catache and Angello’s voice announcing their upcoming movie - - the kids had somehow found a microphone and figured out how to use the equipment while I was gone! I almost cried happy tears! I arrived to find them singing and dancing around the room with excitement, giving each other high-fives!

announcing the movie:

Before 7:30pm, the people started pouring in. There were younger kids, high school kids, and even a ton of adults - all dressed up for the movie. It was a full house!

Coming in for the 2nd movie:

Waiting for the movie to start:

They even ran out of chairs, and people were standing in the back! I overheard Angello whispering to Carmen, “Carmen, look - the room is full! This is so cool!” The Directora (Principal) of the Secundaria came with her husband - she was so proud! The movie started on time, and about halfway through it, all of their popcorn was sold!

At the end of the movie, the kids got busy cleaning - not just the auditorium, but the entire Municipality! The Directora stayed behind to tell me what an awesome job I did - which of course I responded, “It wasn’t me - it was my amazing students!” She said that the residents were telling her that they’d to have more movie nights like this a few times each month! I was so thrilled!!! - - SUCCESS! As my students were leaving, they were so happy - yelling, “Thank you sooo much, Ashley!!!” What a great night!

On Wednesday morning, I went for a run and showered, had a quick lunch, and then I was off to the Inicial in Munana to help them start preparing for their Chocolatada.

What is a “Chocolatada?” Every year thousands of students from all over Peru get together in their local communities to participate in a Chocolatada with their school. Simply put, a Chocolatada event is when children descend from all corners of local communities at the end of their school year (right before Christmas), to drink hot chocolate and eat panetón (panetón is like a fruit cake, but made with actual bread - as I stated last year… I don’t like it). Often there are games and dancing, then follows the giving of gifts and toys.

Panetón:

The Chocolatada was fun… but exhausting. I helped to set up the tables, chairs, food, and hot chocolate at 2pm, and I got home at around 6:45pm.

Marleny and one of the moms making sandwiches:

The kids:

On a completely different subject, later that night, I was eating a lollipop - just getting to the gum part, so I impatiently started chewing the candy part away. Well, I got to a pretty hard piece of (what I thought was) the candy. I was chewing and chewing - thinking, “That’s weird - this piece of candy just does not want me to eat it…” So, I spit it out - and out came my cap from one of the 2 root canals I had done in Lima a few months ago!!! I immediately called the Peace Corps doctor, who said he would make me an appointment for this weekend to get it fixed.

This ruins ALL of my things scheduled for the end of the week!!! This means I can’t go to the promoción (graduation) for the Inicial in Munana on Friday night - and, more importantly, I can’t go to the promoción for the Secundaria (high school) on Saturday night!!! UGHHHHHH!!!!! Luckily I could stay until Friday - I told the doctor that I HAD to stay for the closing ceremony / fiesta I am throwing for my “Noche de Películas” kids on Thursday. So, I was stuck with my cap-less nub of a tooth for a couple days before my appointment, and I had to be SUPER careful of what I ate!

On Thursday, I woke up early to eat breakfast and write out my list of things to do for the day. I gave my solicitudes to have the closing ceremony in the Secundaria to Angello to give to the Directora. Then I bought my Chiclayo ticket, went for a run, showered, and had lunch. Afterwards, I had to break the news to the Directora of the Inicial that I couldn’t make it to the promoción for the kids on Friday. How terribly sad.

I spent the rest of the time before the closing ceremony preparing everything… filling out and signing the certificados (certificates) for the students who completed AND PARTICIPATED in my “Noche de Películas” class, wrapping the prizes of candy for the winning team (Segundo Grado B, of course), and getting dressed for the event.

4:00pm came, and I walked up the hill to the Secundaria to meet the kids in the winning team’s classroom. With their earnings from the movies, the winning class had chicken, panetón, hot chocolate, and bread rolls - not only for themselves - but for the other class, and for the principal and all of the professors of the Secundaria, too!

Dishing out the food and hot chocolate:

Carmen (the President of the winning class) gave a speech before we ate, thanking me and her classmates for everything, and all of the teachers thanked me for the success of my course and the outcome!

Group shot of my students and i:

Some of my students at the closing ceremony:

Afterwards, we sat around, and I played some music for them on my computer. They all crowed around me, asking to see some of my pictures of my family and friends back in the states. We did that for about an hour, and I told them stories about the US.

At around 6pm, one of the students brought in a stereo, and they all started dancing…

Angello’s moonwalk:

Dancing, happy kids:

All in all, it was a success - - the course, the movie nights, the closing ceremony, and all of their smiles!!!

and now, for your viewing pleasure...

a video - in summary:

Now, I just have to worry about my own smile… alas, another dentist appointment - ugh! I can’t wait to get back to that fluoride water in the states!

GRARR - the great amazon river raft race 2011

i’m finally back at site after one hell of a vacation. this was the kind of vacation people created the saying, “i need a vacation from my vacation” for. the trip quickly replaced my “toughest thing i’ve ever had to do in my life” (the title which was previously given my Machu Picchu adventure).

my story begins with my journal entries from our journey to Iquitos - and dramatically ends at the end of the raft race…

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journal entries:

1 Octubre 2011
8:15am
on our Movil Tours bus… the 13 hour bus ride has quickly turned into a 15 hour ride. we’re still about 100km outside of our final destination - Tarapoto. going through a lot of small towns. so far, it reminds me of the road to Cusco - minus the grand mountains. gracias a dios, we stopped for coffee and a cig about 15 minutes ago. i didn’t sleep well last night - as usual. but, Andrew did say that i laughed in my sleep - i know i had a few weird dreams - so at least i got to REM. now, we’re watching “the hangover” - Andrew at my right, wrapped up in my Máncora tapestry - and Boston across the isle. we got the panoramic view seats - 1, 2, and 4.

11:30am
on a Gilmer Tours bus now - going from Tarapoto to Yurimaguas - up, up, UP into the rainy mountains. i saw a sign: “arboles = vida.” our boat is to leave at 2pm for Iquitos - i hope we can make it!

12:30pm
we just stopped for a bathroom break in Pongo - then back on the bus - our bus driver is playing “Wonderwall.” 5 minutes later - stopped by cops - we all had to show our passports / DNIs / and whatnot. in Pampa Hermosa now - 10 minutes outside of Loreto. Boston just switched seats to sit by us… gotta start the team-bonding, you know. shanty town of thatch houses.

1:45pm
bus needs more oil. access to the engine from the inside - in between the driver and passenger seat. passed through Santo Tomas. stopped in 30 de Agosto. bus is seriously over heating. but the friendly man next to Andrew said, “only 17km to go.” switching buses now… bus broke down.

4:57pm
got to Yurimaguas too late to catch a boat - will leave tomorrow at noon-ish. staying in a nice hostel with a pool. we (finally) ate - and tonight we plan to just relax.

2 Octubre 2011
12:50pm
on the river - on the boat Eduardo IV - words cannot explain the peacefulness - the beauty. perfect clima - windy - tranquila. we’ve already befriended 2 guys - one from Spain (Arturo) and the other from Argentina (Facundo). Andrew and i are in room #8 and Boston is next door in #9. we saw a river dolphin as we pulled out of the docks. the three of us couldn’t be happier. taking photos like crazy… and we’re only 10 minutes into the journey.

pics:

3 Octubre 2011
11:45am
so far, our trip has been worth every penny. the scenery never stops it’s breathtaking beauty. being in a cabin, we have our meals delivered to us by our 2 gay little cooks (who have a crush on Boston). last night, we had roast beef for dinner - and then i bought a cool bracelet and some coconuts (which we filled with rum) from my new little 10 year old friend, Victoriano. after the sunset, we had a couple of drinks with our Spain and Argentina friends and hung out to enjoy the breeze on our side of the boat. this morning, we had breakfast delivered at 6:30am - fell back to sleep - and finally stumbled out of our beds at around 10am. i got my hammock up to join Boston’s. so peaceful. right now, we have beached the boat and we’re receiving some extra cargo from another boat.

1:30pm
just chatted with my little Victoriano for a bit. he drew his name and my name in some hearts on a piece of paper which i’ll keep in my journal - he’s so cute. he said, “just think, when you’re 60 years old, i’ll be 40!” he gave me a “Trujillo” key chain with an armadillo on the other side - i gave him some cookies and a piece of gum. i’ll have to send him some pictures Andrew took of us.

3:00pm
i just fed the bulls on the boat. and then we had a lovely conversation with Victoriano’s dad, Victor. so the 3 river’s that unite to make the Amazon are: Marañon, Hallaga, and Río Tigre. the river we’re on right now is the Marañon. after Nauta (which we will reach in the madrugada), we’re going to pass through the head and the mouth of the Río Tigre into Las Amazonas. Victor just had us try 2 different drinks: indanachado (made with the fruit indano and yanque) and uvachado (made with grapes and yanque). i also got their contact information. the family has an artisan booth in San Juan in Iquitos - i’ll drop the photos off there.

pics:

4 Octubre 2011
8:00am
i had to say a sad goodbye to Victoriano last night - he and his dad got off in Nauta. this morning, we woke up on the Amazon River! breakfast at 6:30am. a group of lovely swallows followed out boat along until a few minutes ago. we should arrived in Iquitos at around 11am or so. Andrew is sleeping in my bed, i’m in my hammock, and Boston is in his (listening to David Lanz and George Winston - i got him hooked!). this river is soooo wide. this is the part of the river we’ll be competing on for the race. i’m excited to arrive, but sad to be leaving our new little home on Eduardo IV.

video - last morning on the cargo boat:

10:30am
just got to Iquitos.. we have to wait and go through customs before we get off of the boat… and it’s freaking humid. we exchanged information with our Spain and Argentina friends, took some more pictures, and now we wait…

video - coming into Iquitos:

pics:

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4 Octubre 2011

we finally arrived to our hostel - the Hobo Hideout, showered, and got ready for the party for us rafters! it was nice to see everyone again (i hadn’t seen kyle since training)! we met some others, too - Felix (the Cobb’s friend from the states), Simon and Ashley (Canadians - Simon was clad in my “No Gracias” shirt purchased in Cusco!), a fellow Floridian (Randy) and his team, and we finally got to meet Amber (the Canadian working in Lima, who was replacing michael jackson on our team) - we all hit it off with her right off the bat! we also ran into our cargo boat friends, Arturo and Facundo!

pics from the party:

5 Octubre 2011

today we bought our supplies for our boat. as well as our cleverly thought-out team costumes - fake tattoo sleeves. we had a captain’s meeting in the evening, and then a few drinks before bed.

6 Octubre 2011

at 7am, we all met at the park 28 de Julio in Iquitos. of course, with la hora peruana, our 5 buses didn’t leave for Nauta until after 8am (which was good, because then we could run around the corner for egg sandwiches).

we finally arrived to Nauta, where the town had a little celebration for us. and then we waited for our boats to take us to the island, where we were promised a grand lunch before starting the construction of our boats.

we arrived to the hot and humid island across from Nauta - and SURPRISE! - no lunch! i don’t know if someone blew a whistle, or we all just frantically started picking our logs for our boat when we realized there would be no “lunch” - but we were hot and tired from the very start.

we hired 2 local kids to help us with our construction. and thankfully, the team cleverly named the “Crazy Cuys” gave us the rest of their rope (the rope that was also promised to us, was nonexistent as the lunch was). everyone worked through the entire afternoon, through the rainbows and rainstorms, and through the evening. Amber and i made ourselves useful and organized the tent for us and the boys. our team shared a tent with Speare’s team (Speare, Mario, Edgar, and Ian) - they were so grateful to see what we had done.

video - working into the night:

finally everything was coming to an end and we got some dinner - a sliced potato and a piece of chicken. we sat around a bonfire with some beer before bed. and then we climbed into our mosquito-infested tent, anxious for the following morning.


7 Octubre 2011

we had some bread and quaker for breakfast, were given our bagged lunches (which consisted of an apple, a rotten banana, and a mini-granola bar), and then got our boats into the water. someone said “go!” and we got off to a very slow start. the Crazy Cuys’ boat sunk at first, but they soon caught up to us after they fixed it back up. we were second to last - Rocio’s boat not far behind - when we heard a big POP! we turned around to see Rocio and her team bobbing their heads up and down in the river, screaming for help! we flagged the medical boat over to them and saved their precious lives!

through the hot sun and hard rain, we paddled and paddled - trying to find currents - zig-zagging from one side of the river to the other. our boat was heavy on the right side, so it made us quite a bit slower. we fought over pee-breaks, sunscreen-breaks, and just break-breaks, until i totally blew my cool over wanting to eat an apple. about half-way through the day, we decided to stay towards the center of the river (which proved to be a great idea), and we finally passed some boats in the end.

when we reached shore, we had no idea how long we had been rowing for. i was so tired and sunburnt. we put our stuff in an empty school, where we were to sleep that night. amber and i had to share a thin mattress, and Andrew and Boston did the same. the malaria pills made my hands and feet tingle on fire. i was so beat and broken - so, i called it an early night, and quickly passed out.

pics:

8 Octubre 2011

we had a great breakfast of eggs, rice, bread and quaker - and then it was back to the river. the slowest teams started first (which of course meant us). we paddled hard - threw the rain and sunshine - applying and reapplying sunscreen like crazy. we stuck to our game-plan from the previous day - sticking to the center - and we were actually doing really good, until we realized we missed the short-cut. we also missed lunch - it was only thrown to the boats on the short-cut. we fought and fought some more about missing the short-cut and which way to go now… we finally met back up with the boats at the end of their short-cut and were able to pass a few of them.

then we started to worry a bit - the current was super slow and the sun was setting. to top it all off, there was a great lightening storm coming in behind us, too. we paddled as hard as we could. so hard, in fact, that Boston and Andrew were requesting breaks for breathers and snacks to regain their strengths. after over 9 hours of paddling, we finally made it to shore - with the lightening storm not too far behind. 17 other boats weren’t so lucky, however - - the coast guard had to pick them up, and they had to leave their boats in the storm. disqualified!

we slept in another empty school - this time we all had a mattress. i felt awful. we all did. after dinner, the medics came to apply an aspirin cream to the majorly sunburnt (which included me and Amber, of course - the only redheads), and then we were off to sleep.

pics:

9 Octubre 2011

after breakfast, i realized we were out of sunscreen. tim’s team (thankfully) gave me an extra bottle. then, we were back into the river. today was the shortest day (it takes the locals a quick 3 hours to complete) - but, the end was notoriously the hardest, paddling against current to shore.

we took our time more today - only arguing a bit throughout the afternoon - stopping to moon the on-looker’s boat (in which no-one saw), and to be mooned (by Speare’s boat). we took more pictures on the river, talked to a local, and even passed a few boats.

when we got to the end - the port in Iquitos - none of us knew exactly what to do. we followed the boats in front of us, and quickly realized we were going no-where - paddling hard - not moving more than an inch or two. we saw some boats beached on the right of the entrance, so we tried to make it to them and find out what the heck was going on. when we finally made it over to that shore, the coast guard came and explained that it was literally impossible to head into Iquitos from the side we were on. we painfully watched ahead as Speare’s team tried with all of their might to get their boat in - the coast guard finally had to pick them up and drop them off a few meters before the ending. they came back and took 3 rafts at a time to do the same. finally it was our turn. the coast guard tied up our boat and 2 others, and we were sent to the drop-off point - so we could nobly paddle in the last bit.

and THESE were the hardest few meters. and not to sound super-corny, but it was TRULY like the end of a movie: everyone was at shore - yelling and cheering for us to make it in - “go Ashley, go Andrew, go Boston, go Amber!!!” and we paddled HARD - “1 - 2, 1 - 2, rudder!!!” we yelled and screamed at each other - barely moving an inch a minute. it felt impossible, the current was SO STRONG! Boston threatened to jump off of the boat and into the river - and i threatened to chop his head off with his machete… still, we continued through our screaming - and through the cheering from the shore - “1 - 2, 1 - 2, rudder, 1 - 2, 1 - 2, rudder!!!” - “go Ashley, go Andrew, go Boston, go Amber!!!” - “1 - 2, 1 - 2, rudder, 1 - 2, 1 - 2, rudder!!!” i don’t know how long we did that for, but when we FINALLY made it in - we felt exasperated as our soaked and tired bodies stumbled off of our boat and onto shore - and all the familiar faces from the journey (fellow peace corps volunteers and new friends we’ve met from the race) came running to greet us with high-fives, hugs, and swigs of beer.

what a superb ending.

after the closing ceremony, we somehow got our beaten bodies showered and changed to join the party at the texas restaurant. we played darts and pool, and had great conversations until the wee-small hours of the morning.

pics: