Our first stop of the day today was to the Centro Internacional de las Papas. Literally the International place of potatoes, which I find pretty cool. They recognize only 4000 or so varieties of potatoes. Yes, only. Apparently, they used to recognize upwards of 17,000 varieties, but using genetic techniques, they've realized a lot are the same. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around 4,000 different distinct types of potatoes. I saw a good 25 of them today and that was astonishing enough. After this, we listened to a older gentleman talk about his work in Peru with a scientific organization and his experience in the Peace Corps 15 years ago. It was really really cool to listen to his advice and viewpoint. Peace Corps really changed his life, and has had a major impact. I really felt excited for my life after Peace Corps, and sort of proud that I'll be able to call myself a Peace Corps Volunteer.
After this, we all piled into a combi and made our way to the Peace Corps office. Headquarters are actually really nice. While there, we listened to a presentation from a lady about LOOP. She created this social enterprise to get rid of all the plastic waste that pollutes the ocean and injuries marine life, among other problems. LOOP stands for Life out of Plastic, meaning she's encouraging the reuse of plastic to bring new "life". For instance, LOOP is going to sell tote bags that are made out of recycled plastic (type 1, bottles). They were really awesome; I wanted to buy one right there. She also is promoting education of people to sort their trash and recycle, to increase the amount of bottles that are recycled instead of thrown away. She's working to develop education and advising of places that generate a lot of bottles and connecting them directly with recycling plants that will re-purpose the plastic to be more useful. She had a great point, that we're using petroleum to make plastics and 50% of plastic products are going towards single use things, like plastic bags. Its terrible, because plastic is so durable. I'll quote her because it's so true, "Plastic is like diamonds, its forever too". It's so much smarter to only use plastic for things we really want to last and use for a long period of time. Well anyways, that is what I found so interesting about her project, and I really hope it goes well for her. It really is a need of the people here, especially since they can easily make money off of recycling.
I have packed for our trip to Marcahuasi. A little nervous about the interviews and presentation we're supposed to do tomorrow before we venture up the mountain on horseback Friday. Also, wondering how much I'm going to freeze. Shout out to Linda for giving me some gloves to wear : )
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