Time for an update

This month has been rather hectic with more travelling than I expected. Everyone jumped on the Compra de Reciclaje train it seems, and SERNANP (the Peruvian Park guards/Forest Service agency) wants to meet with us to establish a more formal working relationship. A Compra de Reciclaje is where the Volunteer advertises that they will be buying recycling at a central location for about 4 hours usually. You need to have a location to store the recycling, big bags to keep them in, a scale, and a ton of change. Then you just sit and wait while the locals bring you their stuff and you pay them by the kilo for it. Then, when you have enough to fill the back of a big hauling truck, you take it to the nearest city and sell it to them for a little bit more. This covers the cost of the transportation and hopefully generates a tiny income fund for something Environmental down the line. I helped with two already this month, and we have another one Thursday. I think I´ll start mine in January to make sure I have everyone well-educated and informed about it, as well as giving them time to collect stuff. Vicco has a major trash problem, and hopefully removing the recycling will start to fix it. However, with all this going to other sites, and Cerro to get settled in, I´ve had to get a good grasp on transportation to and from my site. I think I´ll take this blog as a chance to explain how it is.

First of all, the most important thing to realize is that Vicco is off the main Carretera Central, meaning that not a lot of cars go to and from Vicco. After about 5:30 or 6pm, you likely will not be able to find transportation to Vicco. A car MIGHT or might not leave from Cerro de Pasco as late as 6:30pm, but this is a very bad gamble. So anyways, lets start off with an explanation of how I would get to Junin, Junin to meet up with the main headquarters office of SERNANP. First, about 2 hours ahead of the meeting time, I would head to the Plaza outside of my Centro Comercial in Vicco. There I would get in the one Colectivo (public taxi) that is likely waiting there. Then I would wait for however long it took for 3 other people to also decide they wanted to leave Vicco. It is also possible that there isnt a car because one just recently left, and then you have to wait even longer. After waiting anywhere from one minute to upwards of half an hour, the car will leave Vicco. Generally, they go to Cerro de Pasco which is northwards, while Junin is southwards. So I have to pay an extra S/. 0.50 to get him to make an awkward dip south to the pueblo of Shelby before returning northward. At Shelby, I have to sit and wait until a big touring bus passes by. Again, this can take anywhere from one minute at the luckiest to an hour. I have already waited that long; its not all that fun. When one of those large double decker buses passes by, I flag it down and hop in, hoping there is an empty seat. But usually there isnt because they fill up in Cerro at their real stop, meaning I have to stand in the middle of the aisle while everyone stares at the gringa for about an hour to an hour and a half. When returning to Vicco, I catch a bus to the ¨Cruz de Vicco¨ which is where the Vicco road meets the Carretera Central just after Shelby. Here I´ll stand and wait until a Colectivo heading down from Cerro stops to pick me up. This is fun, because I´m practically gauranteed to have to sit in the back of the hatchback car, or sit ¨b-word¨ as they call it in the front passenger seat with another person. All Colectivos have a nice little rag folded neatly on the center console above the gear shift for just such an occasion.

Transportation is very fun, especially because even if you know the correct price, the money collector will still try to give you the gringo price. You have to debate asking before you get in how much he wants to charge you for where you´re going or just getting in and then giving him without comment the right amount. If you ask beforehand, he will almost always try to say a higher price, which you can dispute, but it´s always risky at the end if he´ll accept the right amount. Or you can just say nothing with confidence, and at the end give him the right price. Generally, this goes very well because you have confidence and just exit the car or bus after paying. However, if they decide to insist that its more money, you´ve already ridden either part or all of the distance, and so you have a lot less room to reject his demands. It´s fun. But so far I really haven´t had any troubles, its just another way of getting around. Once you get ahold of the ropes of it, you´re golden for the most part.

As for the food here, I have still yet to have Cuy, or guinea pig. I just really haven´t been presented the opportunity yet. But I have seen them being raised for slaughter, more than a few people in Vicco have them in their backyards. In fact we have at least one in our shed thing in the backyard. Maybe we´ll eat it eventually. They´re about the size of an Oscar´s burrito, or if you don´t know that reference, they´re the size of Chipoltle´s burritos. Sorry, I can´t think of another size comparision. I really want a burrito right now. The food here isn´t bad, but I very much miss having different cuisines within a week. Here its always rice, usually with potatoes and chicken, but sometimes another type of unidentifiable meat. I usually hope that means its sheep. I miss being able to have a hamburger, the next day burritos, the next day fettichini alfredo, the next day spring rolls and the next sushi. I really could die for some good sushi. Apparently, Lima has a very expensive sushi bar, which I will definitely be finding during my time here. I´m hoping to make veggie rolls in the near future in my site though. I just need to find rice vineager and the seaweed. I think I can likely find that in our regional capital so just have to hold out till the end of January. I´m also planning on making an Apple pie and potato salad for Navidad. Unfortunately, my host mom has assured me that pickles don´t exist here. I´m not sure I´m going to like potato salad without pickles. Hopefully, Huancayo, the regional capital has them in January.

Well, that is enough for now, time to work on typing up some official documents for the Municipality for workshops on recycling and the Recycling Buy itself.