Kristin

Jeg er kommet trygt til Lima! Er hos Vanessa naa- alt vel.

These days are filled with farewells and awkward feelings. Yesterday my dance group (traditional dance) arranged a lunch for me, they had brought wine and we enjoyed the typical french fries, rice and steak. They told me they had appreciated having me in their group and gave me some local art from the Andes. Bien bonito! As time is running out, I have started to have some intensive English classes for a group of 10 year old girls. We meet almost every day, they are very eager to learn so its fun to teach them.

Friday I will leave Chota and maybe never come back. This reality has become common to me, and it will be strange to regress to a western world, where people are more closed and occupied, and where materialism is stronger. I have seen the tremendous contrasts of this world from the other point of view- which has left me with different attitudes than before. But how long will it take before a will act and think like any other European?

Last week and this week we go to primary school in the countryside to take away the bugs (lus) from the heads of the children… Last Wednesday Mary and me were shampooing all the girls´ hair of the schools called Ojos Corral and Tranca de Pujupe. I guess every sixth girl had white eggs and black little creatures crawling around in their poor heads. The bugs won’t let them be - they keep scratching their heads until crazy, keeping them from being able to concentrate in class and in their school work. Pobrecitas!!

After some days in Lima, I will take off from Peru and reach Oslo the night of Wednesday May 3rd. I will spend some days in Oslo before going to Hald at May 8th. I look forward to see you all!!

Easter was spent by this girl in Trujillo, a beautiful city along the coast of Peru. A friend invited me to spend some days with her family, so I got to know some Peruvians from the coast and see how they live. I have to say the coast and the highlands seem like two worlds apart, on the coast they are more up to date, have more knowledge and they are also more wealthy. Well, Patricia showed me the Huacas de la Luna- which is a monument/building of barren (leire) which was built by the Moches, a culture that existed before the Incas. Very impressive- they made a lot of nice ceramics, I will try and bring one object to Norway. We took advantage of the sun and went to Huanchaco afterwards, which is the tourist beach of Trujillo, where there are a lot of “gringos” and they sell a lot of tempting art- bracelets, necklaces and earrings made of sea shells, beads and other things from the nature. And I got to try the “caballitos totoras”, which are fishing boats made from straw! What a pity I cant put out more pictures… The other day she took me to another city- Chiclayo- where we visited the royal tombs of Señor Sipan, who was the leader of another culture called the Chimus. So now I have gotten to know various of the Peruvian ancestors :)

As Peru is very catholic, there was arranged various masses during Easter. Patricia and I went to an unforgettable one at Easter Eve, 9 o’clock in the evening. The people met outside the church, and we turned off all the lights around us, meditating over the fact that Jesus was dead. The ambient was pretty pessimistic. But all of a sudden the bishop lit his big candle, and started to light the candles of the persons around him. After a while all the congregation had their candles lit, and we went into the church together, singing. Jesus had finally risen, and brought life to the people living in shadow. It was a lovely mass, and the church was filled to the very final seat.

I am left with 10 more days in Chota, and it’s a strange feeling. A part of me cant wait to go back to Norway, but at the same time I feel like a part of me is Peruvian by now. For instance, its awkward to think about Peru soon getting a new leader (after the re-elections in the beginning of June), and I wont be a part of it. My heart hopes that their future will be a bright and better one, because they deserve it so much, all the Peruvians I have gotten to know. May 2nd I will take off from Lima, letting go of this country that has become a “partesito” of me. ¡Què extraño serà!

I have been staying in Peru for quite a time now, and its strange to recall what Norway is like. The people here are very poor compared to the ones over there, but I have been used to it and don’t think much about it anymore. What matters is what the people mean to you, the friendship you have, the good conversations. I have gotten “amigos” here that I will never forget. The Peruvians are so open, easy to get to know, its amazing. They give you everything as soon as you reach them your hand to greet them. We have been discussing with some friends; what things could the Peruvians improve, and in what aspects could WE learn from them. In the latter, there are various things. The western world is very stressful, there is a lack of time. Here you could pop in to visit a friend, and he always has time for a conversation, a cup of tee. (The negative side is that they never fulfill their appointments on time…) We have experienced that its possible to have a lot of fun with a person that you recently met. Its such a blessing for us, who don’t know a lot of people and are not going to stay here forever. In Norway it takes so much longer to build a good and close friendship. I have been thinking about how much harder it is to be a foreigner in my country. We have so much to learn from the Peruvians.

The people over here appreciate their relations a whole lot, that is their families and their friends. They are shocked as I tell them how we in Norway put the elderlies in appropriate homes, and keep living our lives separate from our parents. In Norway the focus is on effectivity, and to fulfill your own dreams, realize your self, without having in mind your family and the people around you. Here the children are fighting to have their parents to live in their house, as they get old. Can you imagine?

It seems that, when you are short of material things, you value more the ones that actually matter- your family and friends. And after all, they are so right. My friend Elizabeth told me this afternoon, that she early realized that money doesn’t make her happy. Her family hardly have money to live for, and if something should happen, like illness or accidents, they are in serious problems, as there is no “safety system”. But what they do is trust in God, who always has provided for them. Besides God, Elizabeth enjoys hanging out with her friends, who make her life worth living.

I wish you all will have a blessed Easter!