Wednesday, July 12, 2006

4th of July in Peru

photo: Myself, Comandant of the Peruvian Army, and other PCV Teryn

¨Fiestas Patrias¨, or Independence day was celebrated in a very unique and strange place this 4th of July, the Peruvian army recreation center in Piura Perú. My site mate and I decided to take the day off and celebrate since it was our obligation as Americans and I wanted to commemorate my grandfather, John Hart, who signed the Declaration of Independence 8 generations ago. We had a great time swimming and sharing beers with the comandant who was in charge that day. Being the only ¨gringos¨ in swim suits in the area, the soldiers wearing their fatigues made us feel like the whole world was watching us. Teryn whipped out her American flag and pinned it on the umbrela that was at our table. Me being the type of person that doesn´t like a lot of attention was a little against the idea of waiving our flag in a foreign military facility that wasn´t ours. But in the end we had so many soldiers come up to us and wish us happy ¨Fiestas Patrias¨. Later, I wasn´t so against waiving our flag, after all it is our independence day and why shouldn´t we waive our flag. I guess I wouldn´t be offended if Peruvians that were living in the US waived their flag on their Fiestas Patrias which is coming up at the end of the month. I imagine living in Peru must be a little bit more different than living in other countries that were not so friendly towards North Americans. In Peru, they treat foreigners with respect and often special treatment, atleast that has been my case so far. I´ve been to a few places in Europe and was never treated like I have been treated in Peru. By the end of the day I was very proud to waive my flag at the pool and to be from the United States. There were so many people all over the city, at my work at the police station, and at the military facility that wished me happy Fiestas Patrias that day. My hope is that citizens of the United States remember Perú and their independence from the Spanish on July 28th, 1821 and wish them feliz fiestas patrias!

Monday, July 03, 2006

Pancho the Ecuadorian Tortoise Diary Vol 3

photo: Pancho sniffing my feet.

Most people would assume that simple minded animals are easy to control and are painlessly easy to have as pets. However, that is far from the truth in my case. My pet Pancho is not a simple animal, in fact he is a very complicated and disturbed animal. As you may recall from a blog insert several months ago Pancho´s new turtle lover. You see Pancho has been locked up in a small Peruvian garden for the past 4 years. His only companions were my rottweiler and a dumb parrot. Well, when I put a female tortoise in the garden love filled the air instantaneously. They were soooo in love and at one point I knew I would have turtle babies. As the months came along their love grew cold and Pancho turned against his lover for some turtle reason that I don´t understand. Pancho would bite her legs, ram her with his shell and would chase her until she would find a corner in the yard and stay there for days. I finally took my female tortoise away from Pancho when he bit out her eye. Pancho grew from lover to killer! The following months Pancho resented the fact that I took his girl from him. Yes he had a right to be mad. Wouldn´t you feel pissed off if you were alone for years and then your dream mate came into your life only to be taken away from you unexpectedly? Well, I never imagined that Pancho would ever use his anger on me! For the past 3 months or so I have been battling with this tortoise. He attacks me. He spots me out in the yard and runs towards me. He goes for me toes, my ankles and leaves me paranoid at times especially at night when I can´t see him. I get so frustrated with him and he is only a turtle. Have you ever been pissed off at a turtle? I try to reason with myself and say that he just thinks my toes are worms. But I know the truth, he is telling me who is in charge in the garden. I´m beginning to think its not me.