Kristin

Monday at dawn Inger Marie and I will take off for Chota and the mountains. We will fly to Cajamarca and have a 5 hour drive to Chota from there. After a meeting in the Stroemme office here in Lima with more information, I am eager to take part in the CODE project up in the "sierra". I look forward to breath in some fresh air, hike around in the beautiful nature and not having to be afraid of getting my things stolen and look over my shoulder anymore... And of course I enjoy starting the work that we are here for- meeting my colleagues and get to see what they are doing up there. The time in Lima has been unforgettable though- first of all with my host family. I have been taken to a peruvian lutheran church and a "celular" group, been dancing salsa to reggeaton music with my "cousins", watched out on the city from a beautiful viewpoint by the ocean and met the girls in the center for young mothers. And much more, as you can tell by my blog. What I can sum up about Lima is only that its very big and diverse... I have seen so many sides of it, you wouldn`t guess it`s the same city. A very interesting stay. Good food, and above all, very nice and friendly people.

Some days ago we went with Claudia and Carmen (two sisters) to the center of Lima, which is an own district. The city is really huge, it takes 1,5 hours to reach downtown by bus from where I live... There are a lot of great buildings in the center which were built when Peru was a spanish colony. We visited a cathedral and went down into the catacombs.. there was a bad smell of dead people and kinda dark and disgusting... Underneath the altar of the church the most important people were buried.

Peru is heavily influenced by the Spain, which is really strange since its so far away. Especially the center of Lima with all its european architecture show how much power the spanish men had.

I managed to post 5 more pictures in the Lima album! Hurray... it takes forever to download. I would wish to show all the pictures I have, but it takes too long, I am sorry.

Today we visited one of Stromme´s partners here in Lima called Asidme, which does micro finanze. Its about giving out small loans to persons that are so poor they are not given the possibility to loan from a bank etc. This loan will make them able to for instance buy equipment to produce things to sell. One of the ladies we visited (in their homes) was making small teddybears, sowed by hand and sold for about 1 Sol (2 kr) each. Most of the time she exports them to abroad, because the competition is really tough here in Peru. In this manner she can provide financial support to her family and make a living. Everyone receiving this loan has to be part of a "grupo de confianza", which consists of about 25 people (mostly women- because Stroemme sees a real potential in these). This group meets regularly to exchange experiences and knowledge, but also to receive teaching on different subjects as for instance how to do business and also more human knowledge such as their rights as women/humans. They are also given the opportunity to learn to make soap and other things to make a business out of. If a person cant pay her/his interest, the group as a whole has to help her economically that month. In this way, being a member of the group is a form of insurance. Very interesting to see that micro finance actually helps people to make a living! I could tell by the womens smiles... 

Click the link to the left saying "my other albums"! There I have put some pictures taken her in Lima.

Still alive in Lima! The other night we had a small earth quake, which was not really funny, but it only lasted for some seconds... The peruvians say its common, so the people in my home didnt even bother run outside the house for security.

Claudia, an eighteen year old peruvian girl is a professional in marinera, a peruvian traditional dance. She even has lessons for kids, and yesterday she took us to a place where we could watch the kids dancing- that was really neat. Tonight I guess WE will have the chance to dance as well, we are namely going to celebrate Christinas (other noruega) birthday in a club, together with the other noruegas and Jeanette and her family. Jeanette works in the Stroemme Foundation here in Lima, and is a great young lady. She cares a lot for us norwegians.

The other day we visited the Center for young mothers here in Lima, ran by the Stroemme Foundation. Its located in the same district as I live. About 13 young girls (average age is maybe 14) are living in the centre, with their kids. Many of them have very tough experiences. Some of them have been raped by family members and therefore have to fight some serious psycological issues as well. In this center they can get help with many things, including learning how to take care of their baby, handle their traumas, and also learn how to make a living after leaving the centre. They can learn to bake and sell bread, work as hair dressers or do crafts etc. The girls are very open and friendly to us norwegians, and I have gotten to know some of them a little bit already.

I will put out some pictures one day... I just didnt get the possibility yet..

Another day of spanish classes! We learn a lot, maybe too much at a time sometimes. But its ok as we may go straight home to our family and try it out "in the field"! I am trying to use the past tense, but I know it tests peoples patience... I will have to think for several seconds to figure out what word to say, but thats the way you learn isnt it. Yesterday we went to the movies to watch "El luchador", that is "the cinderella man". Nice movie, even though I just cant stand boxing... I think I will give it a "4".

Its kinda sad we will never become like the peruanas and slide into the crowd even though we learn spanish perferctly. Whereever we go people stare at the gringas (white girls)... I guess it will be even worse in the "sierra" (in the mountains). Its really strange to see that all the white people here have the prominent jobs, and they are the ones you see in TV and in commercials. Peru is still a society of classes. I really get to think about poverty and injustice as I live in one of the poor areas of the city.

I really appreciate your comments guys!  Hope you are all doing well.

This weekend has been exciting. We went to a birthday (cumpleaños) party at Diana´s niese´s house, that is her family´s house. Here in Peru it seems kids live at their parent´s place until they marry.  Diana´s sister has four daughters in their 20´s, who were really nice and funny. I taught them norwegian and they did my make up in the peruvian way (which is not really different) and we ate a peruvian dish called " Aji de gallina", which contained chicken, milk, potatoes, lettuce, tomato among others. (its kinda strange writing in english now, so forgive me if the sentences come out a little weird...). Jeanines friends showed up at 9 o clock or later, and the party went on until 6 in the morning!! I tried to sleep in a room next door, but it was rather impossible with the high bass... They basically played latino music, which I really enjoy. We danced salsa and merenge, but basically the people just moved naturally and included some salsa movements in their dance. It was really fun being part of a peruvian party for the first time. I will put out some pictures later. We were about 30 "muchachos" (youths) I think.

I am finally in Lima! My host family is really nice. The mother works in a center for young mothers and the father is a professor. They have a son called William who is actually doing engineering like me, but in the field of civil engineering. Two dogs are also part of the family.

Now we are soon off to Lima, they are going to show me the city I think. Exciting! The city is really big, I dont think I have been to the real center yet. Monday starts the spanish classes, which will be nice I think.. the language is a challenge, but my family is really patient and never get angry if I ask too many questions, and thats really nice... But its really encouraging when I actually understand something.