Killer Octopus

A few weeks ago I was at the beach when one of the Peruvians that was staying at the house with us brought back a sack full of creatures from the sea. The sack included two octopuses, a bunch of mussels, and a wierd looking fish twith moss and barnicles on it´s skin that of which resembled something from the ocean floor. Well, with my curiosity, I began poking at the creatures in the sink. Thinking they were dead or nearly dead I began touching the top of one of the octupuses, when, suddenly it awoke from the dead and furiously slithered its way out of the sink and attached itself to the wall. As it worked its way behind the fridge I began to yell for help. I didn´t want to touch it because I didn´t know if they bite or inject poison or whatever they do to protect themselves. As the Peruvian ran over to see what was the matter, they began to laugh at my ignorance. As they grabbed the head of the octupus and twisted the octopus let go of the wall and became still. They explained to me that they are harmless and you can pick them up. So thats what I did. They are very interesting creatures and fun to play with. As you know they have suction cups on their tentacles and at times are tough to get off your hand. The also change colors depending on their environment. For lunch we had a typical peruvian dish called Cebiche that included raw fish, and other sea food that we caught that morning (including octopus) that is marinated in lime juice and is served with onions and hot peppers.

Educational Excursion with street kids

On July 14th the police and I brought 130 street kids to an ecological park-mini zoo outside of Piura for a day of instruction and fun. There, the kids learned all about protecting the environment, the fauna and flor and also were instructed on basic first aid from a company of firefighters. The success of this event marks the end of one my big projects of the year working in the Peace Corps. Everything went great and according to the plan we created-- a real suprise here in Peru. The only thing that suprised me and made me a little upset was that somebody (who I later found out was one of the police officers) was feeding bananas to the monkeys through their cage. Not a biggie, but when you have 130 kids all with sack lunches that contain bananas your setting yourself up for a disaster. Luckily I told the kids not to feed the zoo animals before they all started feeding the monkeys. Can you imagine 130 kids all sticking bananas through the monkey cage at a zoo! picture: kids lining up in their formation.

picture: kids with the firefighters

Andes Mountains of Ancash Peru

I decided to use my last two vacation days to visit the Andes Mountains of Central Peru this past week. Sometimes when I feel jaded for getting a hot coastal city for a Peace Corps site I think of the mountains and what it would be like to be placed in a small Andean village high up in the mountains. I´ve learned that life in the mountains is so different from the life on the coast or even life in the jungle of Peru. Peru is so divided geographically, that when you cross into different regions you feel like your in a different country. People look different, speak different forms of Spanish or Quechua, eat differently and even have different traditions. When you ask many Peruvians what places have you been to in Peru, very few can say that they have crossed over into other regions. Cultures and traditions have remained in tact for hundreds of years. When I treked through the mountains I discovered many people still live in small stone huts with grass cielings. They cook with dried cow chips and have very few possesions. This brings humbleness to a new level. When you ask many PC volunteers what is it like living in the tall Andes they will tell you that the views are incredible but the work sucks. In this part of the region, the people are more closed and passive. They are not as receptive to new ideas and need lots of time to develop trust with volunteers. Work is slow in the Andes and development even slower. The food in the Andes is bland and includes very few vegitables and variety of meats. Though cell phone towers are popping up everywhere and DIRECT TV is spreading throughout even the smallest villages, many only recieve electricity only for a few hours of the day and still use latrines. Many still cook with wood and live in mud brick and thatch houses and use corrigated tin roofs. I hope you enjoy these pics I took on my last trip.
picture: Landscape of the Andes near Huaraz, Peru

picture: Little boy with his Alpaca friend.

picture: PC friends on a glacier at 6000 meters.

picture: Inside an ice cave under a glacier

picture: Andean girl with a lamp. She helps her family make a living by recieving tips from tourists as she poses for pictures. Very common in Peru.