My first day in Huacho – oh my goodness, I am so tired, all I want to do it to go to bed. But so much has happened today that I want to try to document as much as I can to share it with you all. As soon as I am done, I am calling it a night (and I will post this in my blog tomorrow or the day after that when I have internet access).
Well, let’s start with this morning. I was in Lima. Feels so far away now. I had originally been told I was going to be picked up sometime after 8am to go to the bus station to come to Huacho. So I set my alarm for 7am, thinking that would be enough time for breakfast and such (I packed the night before). Well, at 6:35am there is a BANG BANG BANG on my door. The owner of the hotel wakes me up and tells me that someone from WUSC called, and that I will be picked up at 7:30am instead. I should get up quickly! Well, I decide to lie in bed for another 10 minutes (obviously unable to fall asleep after such a brutal awakening) and then get up. Get ready, eat breakfast (same as usual: fruit smoothie, bread, jam, and tea), brush my teeth, take one last look around the room to make sure that I haven’t forgotten anything, and then I’m out the door. 7:35am. 7:45. 8:00. 8:10. Finally around 8:15, Isabel (a WUSC employee) shows up. Good morning Sheila! How are you? Good – but I have been awake and sitting in the hotel reception area for a while! She doesn’t understand who called the hotel or why , it was not her nor the driver (Julio). Must have been Michel (the WUSC director). Oh well. Early start.
We go drop Isabel off at the WUSC office in Lima and then Julio and I set out for the bus station with buses going towards the north – it is completely on the other side of town, and traffic in Lima is HORRENDOUS (and that is almost an understatement). It is roughly 9:30am by the time we reach the area where the bus station is located, but then we are given misleading directions around 3 times before we find the parking lot. Fiouf. Finally arrived! (side note: I have already mentioned this in previous posts, but you always, ALWAYS need to watch your things in Lima – even while you are driving. Purses need to be kept under a seat or between your legs so that they are not grabbed off a back seat or off your lap, because thieves will smash windows, grab, and run. Luckily, Julio is smart: he has a worn tarpaulin in the back seat that he can put over suitcases to hide anything that may look appealing to a thief. Because once we were stopped at a light and there was a man outside who was peering into the back of our car quite a lot. Julio and I became quite anxious – as did the taxi driver next to us, waiting for the light to turn green. Julio told me not to look at the person, not to show them my fear. So I just looked down. Light turned green and we took off, but it was a close call!)
Anyways, so we arrive safely at the bus station, and meet up with Sara. She is a WUSC staff member who has been working in Huacho on contract for the last 3 months to get a feel for EMAPA (the place where I will be working), help them establish internships, etc. She is super nice and talkative (as are all of the WUSC staff), so I feel I am in good hands. Buy my ticket to Huacho, say goodbye to Julio, and off we are. The bus is quite comfortable, nice wide seats with lots of cushioning. And man, do they ever recline! There are also movies playing (in Spanish and with Spanish subtitles, but I understand the gist of what is going on). Sara and I talked for about an hour about various things and then we both passed out. The ride was smooth and we picked up quite a few people along the way. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much countryside since there was SO MUCH fog (also because I slept, but shhhh!). There was a bit of vegetation and some herds of cows and sheep, but mostly massive sand dunes/mountains.
Two and a half hours after leaving Lima, we are in Huacho! Sara calls Carlos, a very trustworthy employee of EMAPA (who I will be working for over the next 8 months), and he comes to meet us at the bus station. Another incredibly friendly person. We take a taxi to LilianaPezzini’s house, where I will be living for the next 8 months. Her son (who is studying tourism in Lima) is home to greet us. Such a nice, talkative person! They also have a young puppy, Tor, who is 7 months old (and needless to say FULL of energy). After talking for some time in the living room, Liliana arrives home from work for lunch (almuerzo). She is also very warm, and I have the good fortune to arrive at her house on the day of her birthday! How nice! She shows me my room so that I can put all of my stuff down. I am quite pleased with my room; I won’t be near a busy street, and it is painted a light green (I love bright colours!).
Her house is three stories high – I will live on the first floor with another volunteer, Itxel (she is arriving on Wednesday). We actually live near the back of the house, because on the first floor there is also a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, an inner courtyard, and another courtyard where they hang up their laundry.
Liliana lives on the second floor with her 10-year old son. She says there is also internet, but she doesn’t know the internet key (so I will have to wait a bit). Luckily, I can go on her computer quickly to send my parents a message to let them know that I have arrived safely!
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| My room in Huacho |
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| The bathroom |
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| The kitchen |
After some time we (Sara, Carlos, and I) leave to go walk around Huacho and explore a bit. We stop for lunch at a rotisserie chicken place (this is a very typical Peruvian meal for lunch) and then continue on down one of the main streets. At the end of the street there is a massive mall – quite a clash with the houses in the surrounding area. Just on the other side of the mall is the ocean – another great view! It’s so funny though, because the sandy area (beach) is used as a learn-to-drive area! There are also many, many fishing boats sitting just off the coast (I think there are protected from the waves by a tiny peninsula nearby). So we decide to check out the mall. First off, we go to the grocery store. But this is like a grocery store + the Bay all in one. Food, clothes, toys, and kitchen appliances and electronics! Wow, it’s massive. Sara and Carlos are super patient with me and take me around to show me various things. I enjoy pointing out all of the fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before, and they describe where it is from and how to prepare it (this way I know which ones are meant for making juice with and which ones I need to peel!). We also take a stroll through the rest of the shopping centre. There is also a movie theatre there with 6 rooms. Guess what?! In Peru, movies are cheap on Tuesdays, too! Only 5 soles (less than $2). Mondays and Wednesday it’s 7 soles (almost $3), and the rest of the week it’s 9 soles (a bit more than $3). I might get caught up on movies this year, who knows!
We finally leave the mall around 5pm and head over to the commercial office of EMAPA Huacho. Here I am introduced to about 10 people who work there, and it is also one of the staff member’s birthdays! We are just in time for her surprise party, with singing, 7up, and lots of cake (delicious cake, might I add!). Once everything is cleaned up we leave to come back home – by this time, as you may imagine, I am quite exhausted. Between being woken up early, travelling, thinking in Spanish, and visiting the new city that will be my home for the next 8 months, it is quite a lot.
I am happy to greet Liliana when I come back home. We end up talking for a while, and I give her maple syrup as a thank-you gift for hosting me. She says that her son absolutely loves maple syrup (I am part of the 3rd ‘generation’ of Canadians that she hosts, and almost everyone brings her this yummy treat). She also talks about how when people stay at her house they become like family. We talk about a few things (mostly around food), and also about what I will do during the weekends, and if I will be here for Christmas. During the summer she says that they often go to her sister’s place, who has a beach house about one hour north of here. I am welcome to come with them on weekends. She also goes swimming at an outdoor pool 4 days/week with her son – I think we will get along quite well! We have arranged that I will eat breakfast and lunch with them, and then dinner on my own. It is quite easy for her to cook for me since I am not vegetarian and don’t have allergies; if not, I think she might hesitate a bit to offer me food (I will pay for it though, of course). In Peru, you typically have a bigger breakfast and lunch, and then a small dinner. To give you an idea of my work schedule:
Work from 8:00-12:30
Break from 12:30-3:00
Work from 3:00-6:00
Break from 12:30-3:00
Work from 3:00-6:00
So you end up eating lunch pretty late – 1pm at the earliest, but more often near 1:30 or 2:00 (how I will last that long without food, I do not know!). By the end of the day it is late and you are tired and you have already had two big meals, so they don’t eat as much. That’s fine. I can buy fruit, granola, etc. to satisfy myself. And anyways, during the summer months when it is really hot out I may not even be hungry. Ah, yes! No meal is complete without potatoes and/or nice. I don’t think I will go hungry.
The nice thing is that my workplace is 10 minutes away by foot. This way, I can come home for lunch, work on grad school applications (or just chat with people, or go shopping, or to the bank), and then go back to work. Sounds like a nice schedule for me. Itxel, the other girl who will be living here, is also working at the same place as me. It will be nice to meet her on Wednesday, I really hope we get along well!
I think that pretty much sums up most of my day (and no, I will not be writing long novels about every subsequent day, it’s just that a lot happened today!). I am really happy to finally be in Huacho. It is a much smaller city than Lima, which I like. Still lots of traffic, but much less pollution. I still have to watch out for my things, but I feel safer. And they said that I will be able to walk the main streets alone by day (woo hoo!). It is very different from home, clearly, but that is what I wanted. I think that I am living in an area where I will have a lot to learn, and that is out of my comfort zone, but not too far – perfect balance. The city isn’t pretty per say, but there are two main streets that are lined with shops and restaurants (and then the large, modern shopping centre), so I will definitely have things to discover my first few weeks here at least. I am quite happy to be here, and finally be settled in (I unpacked all of my things tonight, it feels so good!).
Over the next 7.5 months I may have my ups and downs, but right now I am excited (and tired). I think that if I ever start to doubt why I am here, I will just come back to read this post and remember all of the excitement and happiness that my first day here brought me. I’m not too homesick yet (and I don’t think I will be). I mean, after all, I am only here for 7.5 months. And my parents and sister are coming for Christmas + New Year’s (going to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca! Among other things). I look forward to meeting people from EMAPA Huacho tomorrow, and then starting to work either on Wednesday or Thursday (depending on if I want one day to settle in a bit more – they are pretty flexible here, it’s nice!).
I hope you are all doing well back home, and I will try to keep you updated with my life and I embark on this great adventure!
Besitos a todos!
ps: I asked them about getting a map. They said that Peruvians dont use maps - you just set off walking, and ask for directions as you go. Takes a bit longer, but you get to meet lots of people that way. Not bad.
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