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diversity and counting
Entry 9 of 12 | show all | print this entry |
This may be my last entry since I leave in less than a week! Ayacucho may or may not have internet access for me. It's the 3rd poorest city in Peru. Hopefully I'll put an update on here sometime!
The last week was a diversity week to try to explain a tiny bit of Canada's multiculturalism to the Peruvians who get very upset by the concept. In Peru, if you are there, you are a part of the single existing culture. They get so frustrated with Japanese Canadians, Irish Canadians, Native American Indians, Canadians, French Canadians. They hate that- no friendly embrace yet! So anyways, we talked to a bunch of refugees, and religious minorities which was cool for me too! Saw a lecture on Canadian Slavery that reminded me how hard it is to learn from lectures but I got to see Chel! Someone from the outside world! We also went to a Buddhist Temple, a Jewish Synagogue, and a Gays/Lesbians support and informational group. the Buddhist Temple was phenomenal to me and followed a lot of my perspectives which was surprising to see that their was a religion so similar to me frame of mind! I'm going to look more into it when I get home. The similarities of all religions are so obvious to me but I wont drag you into a religious rant until I'm back and face to face with you (cough Suz and Peter cough)! I had a discussion with Wayne and Sylvia about homosexuality during dinnertime which was really good. I felt good for talking about something so controversial with them. We think very differently.
When Lisseth got here, she said she wanted to see buffalo. Much like the igloo, this is how they saw Canada. So I googled live buffalo and we drove to Bearbrook Farms to eat and then see buffalo. Gratefully in that order. We were with a Sylvia/Wayne's first CWY exchange student from 24 years ago and her adopted daughter from Ethiopia. She was great and took us to a few fun artsy events. It was so refreshing to be with a kid! And a dog! I got to play! Woohoo! Sylvia drove me crazy.
There is not a lot of excitement on the farm. Lisseth does not do a whole lot. I need excitement, so I made some! I now partake in counting. Seriously, I count things. Possibly influenced by Sesame Streets 'The Count'.There is a calculated average of 1063 steps down my driveway, twice a day. There are now 94 cows on the farm. I saw a freight train with 92 cars. I realize that this may not equate to phenomenal fun for you, but wait til you hear the rest. Extreme counting! Counting with a dash of DANGER! I climbed the silo. There are 72 ladder rungs. My parents bought a huge gourmet cake of chocolate and coffee. The two things that I never consume due to their nastiness. It took 8 days and 4 oversized pieces of politeness to finish- that's 32 moments of torture. Sheba, our dog, takes only 2.5 seconds to realize I'm outside and jump up trying to chew my face off. And I was standing pretty close to that 92 car train. Just to impress you more, sometimes I count in Spanish. That's right, yu-huh. I'm open to suggestions.
We got some snow here which I was SO happy for! Watching the Peruvians go outside was like watching little kids- they didn't know what to do with it. Lifting their feet up super high and walking super slow (even slower that normal!). So the Canadians attacked them in the morning with a snow fight- looks of complete shock! Took a while for them to catch on while we covered them, but once they got it- they were in! Lee asked me "So, what do the kids for recess now that there's snow?". I told him the same as always just with more rolling around. He couldn't believe they go outside in it!
We said goodbye to all our work placements this week and Lee and I decided we were going to hid here and skip Peru to play in the snow. Corinna, our daycare boss, said we could live with her. When I come back here to visit after, I'm going to stay with her- she's so wonderful! I feel really lucky to have met her. We got lots of little gifts from all the places we visited and Corinna braided us some sweetgrass which I've always loved. This is rich culture and I'm really going to miss the people- it makes me cry a bit!
I'm not excited or unexcited about Peru yet. I tend to be that way, I'm sure I'll explode once I'm in the moment though! Still worried about Christmas away with a new family, new customs, new language, new country. Saying goodbye to all the kiddies at work was sad, they make me want to have babies! Don't worry Mom, I may be getting a tummy from lack of movement, but not from pregnancy! So, I'm on my way to more crazy new things! Wish me luck and a llama!
Love, Shannon!
*true adventure is not in exploring new lands but in learning to see with new eyes
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