Living the Simple Life

I firmly believe that you can get used to anything with a little time, at least that has been my experience here in Peru. 

For my first six months, I had dirt floors, a straw mattress, and slept in my sleeping bag each night. It was definitely not the Marriot, but I got used to it and was just fine. And now, after two years, using a latrine, for instance, is second-nature to me.

 

Living without luxury has taught me what I can live without, and the things that I can’t, well they are just a bit more challenging here, which is why taking a shower in the campo is such a big accomplishment. 

Here are a few things that I’ve taken for granted in the states, that from now one, I never will:

Drinking from the Tap: Just the other day my friend was telling a Peruvian about water fountains, and he couldn’t believe it. Why? Because drinking water from the tap is taking a gamble that you might ingest some unwanted parasite. Water in Peru, even in Lima, is untreated, which is why many kids are running around with parasites in their little bellies. I haven’t for certain had one, but I’ve had my suspicions, and I know many other volunteers that have had more than their share. So what do I do? Well I normally boil my water with an electric water boiler, then save the water in a bucket so it can cool down. Other people chlorinate their water, and well let’s be honest, a lot of people just drink from the tap, which is part of my frustration as a health volunteer.

Taking a hot shower: There are some volunteers that choose to take cold showers, but I’m not one of them. I feel that if are able to be comfortable, than why not? No reason to suffer. So about every 3 or 4 days, I prepare myself a hot bucket  bath, which consists of boiling about 4 jars of water and mixing 2 of cold, and splish-splash give yourself a bath. It takes a lot of time waiting for the water to boil, so it usually occupies my entire morning, which is why if I take a bucket bath, my day is pretty much done. 

Getting in your car to go to the store: First off, I don’t own a car here nor can drive, so my only form of transportation is waiting for a truck to drive by my house, which can be a bit tricky. There is no schedule for the trucks, but I’ve learned more or less when they are most likely to be passing by my house: in the morning before school, right after lunch, and in the evening. Every other time, it is just by chance. So I get all my stuff ready to go and wait outside listening for the distance dirt pounding of the truck coming down from the plaza or sometimes I’m in my room when I hear the car coming down the mountain, so I race to stuff things in my bag and out the door I go, waving my hands and trying to whistle at them to stop. Sometimes they do and often times, they don’t. If I have enough time on my hands and it isn’t raining, I prefer to walk to the nearest town since it’s a nice camino and all downhill. This also occupies half the day, so I only do it once a week, but it’s something I really enjoy. 

Finding what you need at the store: This is the other half of the problem. Once you get to town, it’s not always guaranteed that you will find what you want. Supermarkets only exist in the big capital cities, so everywhere else there are just small tiendas that have random stuff. This can be sometimes frustrating, but if you are in a good mood, can be kind of fun since it’s like a treasure-hunt. For instance, we have our places to find skim milk, wantons, cheese bread, chinese sweet and sour sauce. And once we find these things, we go back to the same store and almost reward these store owners. Since a lot of stores have a lot of the same stuff, I’ve learned that loyalty goes a long way. So I have a bread lady, an orange lady, a cheese man, etc. And if you go to these people long enough, they might even give you a yapa, which is a little something extra. 

Putting on a movie: My laptop is my life here. Honestly, wouldn’t know what to do without it, since a bunch of volunteers share TV shows and movies, so a lot of times I find myself without anything to do, so I put on a movie on my computer. Yeah for 17 inch screens! This is only complicated when there is no electricity. My computer battery has been pretty fried since getting to Peru, so it now only lasts one hour without power, so I have to be selective when I’m not sure if the power is coming back on. 

Going to the gym: The campo is your gym. Gyms don’t exist in my town neither do they in the town below me. In fact, people don’t really exercise or at least they don’t call it that. They call it feeding the pigs, taking the cows to water, and harvesting corn. I pretty much gave up on “exercising” a year into site, so instead I just make sure that I walk every day or work in my garden. That’s enough for right now. 

Cooking yourself dinner: This one is a hard one in my house since cooking yourself dinner requires lighting a fire, waiting for the fire to heat up, then try not to burn your dinner. I’ve made only a few dishes while living at my host families house and cooking with an open flame has it’s challenges, so I just stick to baking cakes.  

Going to the bathroom: This is always a fun one, since my bathroom is a latrine that is located outside about 30 yards away that is protected by a very hungry pig. I’m used to using a latrine, it’s just the constant battle I fight with the pig because every time I go he thinks I bring food for him, so then he attacks me and practically tries to bring the latrine down while I’m in it. Another hazard of using a latrine is the weather.  If, for example, I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night while it’s rainy, it’s not as if I’m happy to brave the cold and dark. So while it’s not glamorous, I keep a handy dandy bucket in my room for emergencies. 

Calling your friend on the phone: Thank goodness Peace Corps gives us cellphones in which we can call other PCV’s for free, but that’s only possible with cell phone service. 3G does not exist where I live, so my conversations are often time interrupted by the constant dropped signal, sometimes 5 or 6 times in one conversation. 

Checking your email: There used to be an internet café in my town, but loading my email took so long that I would rather wait a few days to go to the nearest town then sit there and have kids stare at me. The nearest town, which is a 20 minute car ride or 1 hour long walk, has many internet cafes and even wifi in a certain hotel.  I prefer to walk, if the weather is nice, as I get to kill two birds with one stone: internet and exercise. I’m really only able to do this once a week, so I try to do all my market shopping and errands, while I’m in town. It makes for a nice afternoon. 

Garbage pick-up: Never really realized how convenient and civilized it is to have your trash picked up once a week. In my town, trash management doesn’t exist nor does the idea that throwing trash out the window is not good. I literally cringe when I see someone throw trash on the ground and many times find myself saying something. But how can you blame them? They haven’t been taught that it is bad for the environment, and even if they did, there is no place to even throw trash as trash cans are practically obsolete.