Tag Archives: community

12/02/2013
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fiesta, musica

baile.

agua marina…promoting cell phones…

during the feria, there were a number of bailes. four to be exact. the first night was my mom’s favorite band…and probably in my top 5 of favorite cumbia performers…agua marina. so the whole family, myself and my friend ali (a pcv in pimentel) attended the baile. and BOY, did we dance! we danced the night away from 11pm until about 2:30am when it started to pour down rain. we also began to leave right when the dance brawls began. you see, these bailes are just a delight. the band plays, and everyone buys their cajas of cerveza, and drinking, dancing circles form all across the dance floor. i cheered every time they wanted to hear the cheers from the tucumanos and i showed my family just how low i can go. oh, how i hope that one day i can have a visitor from the states when there is a baile in town…it would seriously be the ultimate cultural experience.

ps. my dance skills were the talk of the town, which left everyone asking me every day that followed if i attended the other bailes…which only left them disappointed…because really guys, i am not getting any younger and i had work to do…those crazies, i don’t know how they do it. seriously, peruvians have a knack for marathon partying and dancing and still work the next day. it’s quite incredible really.

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29/01/2013
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fiesta, happenings, túcume

(tony) danza.

but really, who’s the boss? thank you community for answering this question for all of us. (i refuse to spoil the show for you).

anyways, the feria has started here in tucume. this month it is of the “purisma concepción.” my town has been talking to me about since i arrived in site in august. hundreds upon hundreds, if not more, are piling themselves in my small town. many are traveling from lima. family that has long moved away returns for this week.

the parque is bustling!

the parque is bustling!

to get the week (more like 2 weeks) started, i attended a danza de los diablicos competition. the history of this form of dance is quite interesting. it’s a traditional dance dating back to the 17th century conveying how the spaniards would try to trick the natives into joining the catholic religion by hiding in the pyramids and coming out at night dressed as the devil. now with the dance, it’s a tucumano folklore to express their world under colonialism, and how the colonists used fear instead of love for conversion.

the promenade of the contestants.

the promenade of the contestants.

i just love how they replaced the "2" with the "3."

i just love how they replaced the “2” with the “3.”

stayed tuned…a number of other cultural events will be happening over the next couple of weeks that have to do with this feria!

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07/01/2013
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adventure, barranco, ceviche, food, happenings, happiness, lima, mp, relax, vacation

barranco.

the streets were lined with old houses that made me feel like i was in the old-timey french quarter of new orleans.

the streets were lined with old houses that made me feel like i was in the old-timey french quarter of new orleans.

while walking along the beach, we made our way over to the neighboring district of barranco. it’s known for it’s architecture, as it was the home of  many of the french and italian immigrants. now it is just full of ceviche restaurants and to a more relaxed bohemian feel than the rest of of its neighbors.

we grabbed some ceviche at canta rana, which had the best ceviche i have ever had. the atmosphere of the restaurant was a delightful change of pace as well.

we grabbed some ceviche at canta rana, which had the best ceviche i have ever had. the atmosphere of the restaurant was a delightful change of pace as well.

i loved the delightful little library in the town plaza.

i loved the delightful little library in the town plaza.

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07/01/2013
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adventure, happenings, happiness, lima, miraflores, mp, relax, vacation

miraflores.

at the nearby parque kennedy.

at the nearby parque kennedy.

while in miraflores, we stayed in a condo just 2 blocks away from parque kennedy and only a 15 minute walk to the beach. we frequented both locations quite a bit during our last leg of the trip.

the famous miraflores coastline.

the famous miraflores coastline.

 

walking along the beach.

walking along the beach.

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12/12/2012
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friendship, pasacalle

reinita.

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samia was chosen as the queen of her class for her school’s anniversary. part of her duties included being featured in the parade, on the stage at the serrenata and dancing a few dances with her classmate. and you know what? she was a PERFECT little queen! so proud of her…

love the kid picking his nose on the left.

love the kid picking his nose on the left.

so serious.

so serious.

all the kids lined up and ready to go.

all the kids lined up and ready to go.

what a view!

what a view!

in the spotlight!

in the spotlight!

 

dance! dance! dance!

dance! dance! dance!

 

samia's traiditional dance.

samia’s traiditional dance.

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12/12/2012
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pasacalle, sex ed

vih/sida.

last week, after returning from almost two weeks out of site, i jumped right back into work! i started out by going with doris door-to-door doing mini charlas on vih and conducting hiv tests. we chose to go door-to-door because only women come to the health center, so the hope was that we would be able to catch some men to take the test. even though we were able to talk to men about the test, almost all still refused to take the test…another perfect example of the machismo culture…also they were normally the most fearful of the brief pain of the test…ha.

doris explaining vih.

doris explaining vih.

administering the rapid test. the test is quite simple...

administering the rapid test. the test is quite simple…

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during eist, the obstatrices gave a few charlas at the colegio and even included the dinamicas that i shared with them. as a way to celebrate the end of the charlas and testing week, we planned a pasacalle! peruvians love their pasacalles! in typical peruvian fashion the 8 am pasacalle didn’t start until 10 am, BUT it was still a success. tons of literature was distributed as well as condoms. hoorah!

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monica, doris and i post passacalle!

monica, doris and i post passacalle!

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04/12/2012
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happenings

propaganda.

loved these posters at the local colegio. one advising the boys that faux-hawks are not okay, and the other telling the kids about the marching on saturday for the anniversary.

loved these posters at the local colegio. one advising the boys that faux-hawks are not okay, and the other telling the kids about the marching on saturday for the anniversary.

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04/12/2012
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chistes, happenings

a new profession.

getting ready.

getting ready.

after doing a charla the other week, the professor at the school saw my camera and asked me to return to take photos of the 5th graders (equivalent to seniors in high school) for the upcoming promoción (equivalent to graduation). of course i obliged. it was a lot a of fun, and i have taken it as my given place in my community now….community photographer…haha.

 

one of the classes.

one of the classes.

for some reason, peruvians never smile in their pictures. so i took this one after they all started giggling uncontrollably when i asked them to smile...

for some reason, peruvians never smile in their pictures. so i took this one after they all started giggling uncontrollably when i asked them to smile…

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04/12/2012
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family, fiesta, happenings, túcume

el aniversario.

it's not a celebration without fireworks.

it’s not a celebration without fireworks.

tucume held it’s anniversary a couple of weeks ago. not to be confused with the anniversary of famed scientist federico villarreal…like i was when we had a celebration back in august. anyways, there were all sorts of events going on throughout the week including a robotics competition, chess competition, career fair, massive marriage ceremony, and, of course, a serrenata that included fireworks. saturday also included the traditional marches, in which i got to join in on my first march. i guess that makes me a real tucamana now?

the massive marriage ceremony. this is quite popular in peru, as it allows the opportunity for people to get married that would not have been able to afford to otherwise.

the massive marriage ceremony. this is quite popular in peru, as it allows the opportunity for people to get married that would not have been able to afford to otherwise.

we had one of the finalists from the second season of "yo soy" perform.

we had one of the finalists from the second season of “yo soy” perform.

bryhen, jennifer and samia accompanied me to the serranata.

bryhen, jennifer and samia accompanied me to the serranata.

fanny packs with those outfits make complete sense. these guys also made me go out to the middle and dance with them and the mayor...not embarrassing. everyone spent the next few days talking about my dancing....

fanny packs with those outfits make complete sense. these guys also made me go out to the middle and dance with them and the mayor…not embarrassing. everyone spent the next few days talking about my dancing….

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04/12/2012
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church, combi

pompom.

the november personal progress theme was knowledge, so i had the young women make pompoms for the scriptures and books. i bought yarn in all the favorite colors of the girls and we had a delight making pompoms!

hard at work!

hard at work!

finished products!

finished products!

unrelated note: we had zone conference, where all the branches in the zone attended in lambayeque. i loved that our tiny, little branch could fit in one combi. ha.

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