Market Day
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| Choclo |
Of all the chores that we have on our chore chart (we have a rotation of cleaning, cooking, and planning spirtuality/community nights) my favorite is grocery shopping. Going shopping for food here is unlike anything else. It is both a cultural experience, and a sensory one! Mercado Grau resembles a maze in which there are people selling their food in not just every "aisle", but also every nook and cranny both inside and outside of the building. The best way to describe the market is a farmer´s market on steroids. If you are not a seasoned Grau shopper or paying close attention you may find yourself walking in circles as shoppers stream by and the colors and sounds of the madness of the market blur together. Also if you´re not on your A-game you might likely run into the body of a pig swinging from a hook or some entrails dangling about in the meat section- my least favorite area of the market. (Admittedly I had to leave a market one day when I was shopping for beef heart with a friend. The smell was overwhelming, and I frankly had just never seen anything quite like it. My stomach rejected the smell and sight of the Señora filleting the heart. Although I´m still not a big fan of intestines or liver or heart or chicken feet you´ve got to hand it to the people. There is little on the animal that gets wasted.)
An outsider may view the market and wonder how in the world anyone could get their shopping done with so many people selling things...the options are overwhelming! After numerous trips there I´ve figured out where things are, and what makes it easier is that nearly every shopper has their "casera/o". Here in Peru, shoppers refer to the person from whom they are buying something their "casera o casero" and in turn the vendor uses the same term to describe the shopper. There seems to be more of this sense of a relationship between the two, as well as a sense of loyalty. Every week we buy from the same people, and you come to know one another and rely on one another as well. Your casera/o is someone you could ask advice about how to cook a certain vegetable or herb for example. And often they will provide you with the "yapita"...a little extra of something as a thank you for your loyalty and to encourage you to come back the next time.
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| My roommate Maureen and a vegetable casera. |
The market experience here is polar opposite from that of the super markets that most people from the U.S. are accustomed to. In Grau the food is out there in the open, not packaged; the fruit is not waxy or clean, but imperfect as it should be. You get a chance to interact with the people that grow the food rather than merely picking something from a shelf without giving a second thought to where it came from. I love that the people park their trucks outside and sell directly from there...and that food comes directly from the farms. I appreciate the fact that there are fewer middle men...that the exchange of money and goods is personal. I love how the experience is just so REAL. For all of these reasons and so much more going to Grau beats cleaning the bathrooms any day ;)
"Where you invest your love you invest your life."
These lyrics of the song Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons have really resonated with me here, and given me reason to reflect on the decisions that I make. I have become keenly aware of the importance of the investment of ones time. In certain moments I have made decisions that were for my own well-being, without keeping in mind the needs of others. While I certainly recognize how incredibly important self-care is, I find that it can be easy for me to do more for me, less for others under the guise of self-care. For example, staying at home to relax rather than visiting a neighbor that has been struggling with financial and personal issues or spending time on the internet at school rather than playing with the kids during recess. Just like with soo many things in life it is a tricky balance setting aside time for the things you want/need to do for yourself and not closing yourself off to others.
In the past several weeks I made a few decisions to spend my time being present to the needs of others rather than my own, and after the experience I do not regret a bit what in the beginning felt like a "waste" of my own precious time. Case 1. A friend of mine invited my roommates and I to have lunch with her family one weekend. Knowing that lunch is an all-day affair I initially hesitated, but decided to go. Just as I expected the "lunch" extended well into the evening, but my concerns about the things I wanted to do at home disappeared as my friend´s mom gave us the most sincere thank you for coming to visit her. She slaved away preparing us a meal, and she was the one thanking us. She looked at us, and remarked that she spent the whole afternoon smiling. We made her happy, she said. Case 2. One evening when all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and watch a movie with my roomies (somebody donated a TV to the JVs awhile back, but we made the decision to store it elsewhere so as to try to live more simply, but it gets brought out occasionally). However, I had promised a friend that was kind of struggling with some stuff that I would visit her that day. I had gone to her house earlier, but she and her husband were out. I could have easily told them that, but it was sort of gnawing at my conscience that I should go back. The visit initially felt like an obligation rather than something I wanted to do, but as in the other case those feelings soon disapppeared during the conversation. They ended up sharing some personal stuff with me, and I feel like our friendship was brought to a new level as a result. They expressed how grateful they were for the visit, and I know they meant it. I think they just wanted someone to listen, and I was able to fill that role for them. I truly enjoy spending time with them, but sometimes I get caught up in my own life, and don´t make the time for other people. But then I must remind myself why am I here. Who am I here to serve, and in what way? It really comes down to a question therefore of investing your time in a way that is an extension of your love.
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| Plaza de Armas in Tacna |
A question of vocation
Frankly, I´ve been feeling down about teaching. As odd as it may sound, I fear that teaching has not brought out the best in me. I consider myself to be a pretty loving and caring person, however, this side of me is not easily transmitted in the classroom because of my preoccupation with discipline and control in the classroom. This is so much the case that I´m beginning to doubt myself and what I thought to be two very present characteristics.
Teaching has been a huge challenge for me. There have been numerous days in which I have left Miguel Pro feeling disheartened and pretty miserable about myself. Monday was one of those days. Upon finishing up one of my more difficult classes (9th graders) feeling a bit downtrodden, I sruck up a conversation with one of my colleagues and was absolutely awestruck by her comments. She was telling me how teaching is her therapy; how she may be having a terrible day and when she enters the classroom all her problems melt away. She even named my most problematic student as a source of comic relief for her. Her sincerity and obvious love for her job and the students moved me.
I shared this with one of my roommates and told her that I was concerned that I don´t feel that same love for teaching. Entering the classroom is generally a source of stress for me rather than a way of relaxing. She listened carefully and responded by reminding me that it sounds like teaching is our colleagues vocation. That that is in fact what she should be doing...the career in which she´s supposed to be in. She pointed out simply that teaching may not be my vocation. Indeed I didn´t choose to be a teacher, but was rather selected to be a teacher in order to fill a need here. It may not be something that I look forward to, that I love, or even something that I´m particularly good at, but nevertheless I am here...giving it my best shot for better or for worse.
Last night at a meeting, another of my colleages commented, "Estoy enamorado con mi trabajo." I am in love with my job. Although I may not be able to say that about teaching in the present moment, I´m going to hold onto the hope that one day I will be able to make a similar comment about my job. How beautiful to be in love with what you do.
Kids say the darndest things
Not as a means to poke fun of or exploit my students, but rather as a way to share with you some of the joys I´ve experienced correcting their work or in the classroom with their funny comments, I wanted to include some samples of the work that students have turned into me as well as some comments.
- 1st grader: "Tia, I stayed up allll night working on a drawing for you. I didn´t go to bed until 7:00 p.m. trying to finish it!!"
- 1st grader: "Tia, preciosa profesora de inglés!" translation: "Tia, precious English teacher ."
- 1st grader: "Tia, I love you...I´m never going to forget you." :)
- 1st grader: "Tia, are you 500 years old?" Me: "No, I´m a little bit younger than that." Other 1st grader: "I know...you look like you´re 40!"
One of the best comments related to age I´ve heard thus far was directed to my roommate. One of her fifth graders informed her that his dad gave him permission to marry her in 10 years. When she asked him if he knew how old she´d be in 10 years he responded by saying that she´d be the same age as him (obviously!). She informed him that unfortunately in 10 years she will be in fact 32 years old. His response: "What?! That is OLD! That is SO old! You are going to be as old as dirt. In fact you´re going to be dead!"
Precious.
