The Launch of Our Website!

Dear Friends,

I hope you will take a few minute to look at the new webpage of Mujeres Unidas. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

http://www.mujeresunidasdecandelaria.org/

In Peru, Deciding Between “Left” and “Right”

My new post from AQ:

Peru is about to be divided, again. With the vote count nearly complete, it looks like the pre-election polls were spot on: first place is Ollanta Humala and second place is Keiko Fujimori. Exit polls also indicate that their two respective parties, Gana Perú and Fuerza 2011, won the most seats in Congress.

What would an Ollanta Humala presidency look like? Would he live up to his campaign promise to be a more center-left candidate, or would he backtrack on his recent character transformation? The problem is: no one knows. During the campaign, he appealed to the mainstream Peruvian electorate by portraying himself as a political centrist and Catholic conservative, and by shying away from his close ties with Presidents Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales. He has tried to portray himself as more like former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. However, many Peruvians—including several investors—believe this is just a façade. Predictions of an Humala victory have contributed to the biggest jump in the cost of insuring Peruvian sovereign debt in five years and the Peruvian Nuevo Sol has declined by 1.6 percent since March 20. We do know that Humala has said he might try to reform the constitution, redistribute wealth through a “national market economy,” and start a government pension program for the elderly.

And, what would a Fujimori presidency look like? It is possible it would look a lot like her father’s, with the first step being a pardon for Alberto Fujimori who is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption. Nevertheless, Keiko Fujimori appealed to some voters because of her father’s record on the economy, anti-terrorism and populism—he frequently gave away goods and services to remote regions overlooked by other governments. Her presidency is not expected to be much different and there is no guarantee that she would adhere to democratic principles.

A runoff between Humala and Fujimori will be very close, as both appeal to constituencies that have felt neglected for the past five years. According to some experts, it will be one of the closest and most polarizing runoff scenarios in years. The election could even get personal because of the conflict between Humala and Alberto Fujimori in 2000, when Humala seized control of a mining town and led a protest against corruption.

Perhaps one of the most frustrating parts about the first-round election is that it seemed to be less about the individual candidates and more of a referendum on current President Alan García. One thing is for sure: it clearly illustrated the consequences of Peru’s weak political party system. Despite high GDP growth over the past five years, low-income Peruvians have not felt wealth trickle down to them. García’s approval rating was an abysmal 26 percent just before Sunday’s election. In the end, Peruvians voted for two extreme candidates, and chose to stay away from the centrist candidates who are more closely aligned with García. The centrist votes were split between Alejandro Toledo, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and Luis Castañeda—causing a majority win for both extremes. In this case, economic growth was not backed by social reform, and the voters demonstrated their resentment.

Another problem was the lack of strong political parties. One can’t help noticing the striking absence of Fuerza Social presidential candidate Susana Villarán, despite her Obama-esque mayoral campaign. Moreover, APRA—García’s party—failed to put forth a presidential candidate and didn’t even endorse one of the centrist candidates until only a few days before the election. As a result, the June 5 runoff is between two last names, not two parties. On that day, Peruvians will tell us which extreme they prefer: left or right.

Peruvian Arrested for Involvement in Death Squads

From AQ:

A new change in British law last year extends the retroactive reach of United Kingdom authorities to prosecute for war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. Crimes can now be prosecuted for acts committed all the way back to 1991—10 years earlier than the previous cut-off point.

Given this development, a Peruvian man was recently arrested in Yorkshire, England, for allegedly participating in death squads during the Shining Path era. The charge was suspicion of involvement in state-backed death squads that targeted guerrilla movements, mainly the Shining Path. He is being accused of participating in the murder of up to 100 individuals during the period of 1989-1993 and is the first to be arrested under the new law.

The purpose of the law was to cover the actions of individuals who had become UK residents after the genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It is suspected that hundreds of suspected war criminals from around the world are living in the UK with apparent impunity.

But the UK is not alone in its ability to prosecute such criminals. The United States has the Alien Tort Claims Act, which asserts that “the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” Although the law remained dormant for nearly 200 years, with the increased awareness about and concern for human rights, litigants have recently begun to seek redress more frequently under the Alien Tort Claims Act—including by Paraguayans, Ethiopians, Nigerians, Libyans and Filipinos.

Civil war in Peru lasted between 1980 and 2000 and led to the death or disappearance of around 70,000 people. The Shining Path is supposedly responsible for half these killings and government security forces are accused of another third. Although the Shining Path is no longer a threat to Peruvian society, remnants of the group have reinvented themselves as an illicit drug enterprise, rebuilding on the profits of Peru's thriving cocaine trade.

Beyond the recent UK arrest, the most prominent prosecution for crimes during the Shining Path era is that of former President Alberto Fujimori. In 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering abuses included the killing of 25 people by a military death squad. The ruling was controversial, given that Fujimori is still a popular figure among Peruvians and his daughter Keiko is a frontrunner in the Peruvian presidential elections next month. She is expected to pardon her father if elected.

However, this recent development in the UK shows that there is a growing international trend for the use of domestic courts to rule on international human rights law. This is a clear warning sign for those that expect to get away with human rights abuses.

Agriculture Exports on the Rise in Peru as Free Trade Promoted

My newest post in AQ:

Peru has been very busy looking for cooperation in the realm of international commerce. In his remaining months as president, President García is intent on leaving lasting footprints, especially a legacy of free trade. At present, Peru has signed bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States, China, Canada and Singapore. It plans on signing agreements with Japan, the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

While the pact with EFTA is expected to come into force in July, trade with Switzerland will begin this month. Switzerland’s main commodity interest appears to be gold, as Peru's mineral exports to Switzerland amount to about 3.8 billion dollars, while the export value of non-traditional products totals seven million dollars. Other notables in the Peru-EFTA agreement include industrial and processed goods, fish, intellectual property rights, government procurement, competition and investment.

Peru and South Korea are expected to sign an FTA on March 21. Such an agreement is expected to boost bilateral commerce by $7 billion by 2016 and would benefit Peru’s agriculture, mining, coffee and fishing sectors. There is also news that Peru is seeking deeper trade integration with Panama, Chile and Colombia to cooperate with respect to goods and services, trade facilitation and microenterprises. Peru is even undergoing talks with Arab nations.

Bloomberg reports that Mexico’s government is close to reaching a free-trade agreement with Peru. Mexican Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari said that Mexico currently exports $974 million annually to Peru, which represents 0.3 percent of Mexican exports and 3.4 percent of Peru’s imports—but Mexican exports to Peru would increase to $2.7 billion under an FTA.

Peru’s large agricultural sector is expected to make gains from these agreements; it is already slated to reach $4 billion in shipments this year. Agro-exports have grown by 20 percent in the first two months of 2011 versus the same in 2010. Last year’s total agriculture export figure of $3.2 billion represented a growth of 31 percent over 2009. According to Peru’s development director Luis Torres, demand has increased for Peruvian products in three principal markets: Brazil, China, and the United States. New customs regulations and improvements to the two roads that connect the countries through the Amazon have helped increase trade between Peru and Brazil. France is also a notable partner in agricultural exports, with exports expected to rise by 20 percent this year.

So why are we seeing so much movement recently in the realm of international trade? It is no coincidence that such rapid movement comes months before April’s election. García could see his free-trade agenda threatened depending on who succeeds him. Although anti-free trader Ollanta Humala is in fourth place, his numbers have been rising from 10 percent to 13 percent and he unexpectedly won in the first round of votes in 2006. García has made it clear that he hopes that any incoming administration follow in his footsteps of neoliberalism and is taking steps to ensure that such policies prevail once he exits office by negotiating these agreements in advance. Only in April will we be able to see if his free-trade policies endure.

Pretty Woman, Patrolling down the street

In line with my Fulbright project here in Lima, looking at the feminized transit division of the PNP, I recently came across this article:

Authorities in China’s Sichuan province want to increase the number of female law enforcement officers, but with a catch: they must be young and pretty. Authorities in the city of Chengdu said they created the women-only team to “present the soft side” of China’s urban law enforcement officers, known as chengguan, whose alleged abuses of power and excessive force have earned them a bad reputation.

The reason for feminizing Peru's transit division of the police is because woman are perceived to be less corrupt. The example in China takes this assumption, that women have inherent qualities that make them great image cleaners for the Police, just a little too far in my opinion.

Project Update: Tejidos and Volleyball

As a part of Mujeres Unidas, we have organized knitting and embroidery workshops as well as a volleybal tournament for the women of the community. (Volleyball is more popular in Candelaria than soccer). The women began both the knitting group and volleyball tournament about a month ago. We are still working on building our community center, which should be done by December!

A Gift of Pollo for the Madrina

About a month ago, one of the mother's in my community asked me to be the Godmother of her daughter. After a long conversation, in which I had to tell her that I am not Catholic, nor had I been baptized myself, she still insisted that I take on the responsibility. I accepted. The following are photos of the baptism from last weekend. The madrina is responsible for the child's moral upbringing as well as to provide any support. The ceremony lasted 2 hours and then the parents hosted a party for the family. The gave the padrino and I a gift of a whole chicken.

Election Monitoring with Transparency International

On October, 3, Peruvians went to the polls to cast their vote for the municipal elections. I decided to volunteer for Transparency International, as an "observadora." I was surprised at how well the volunteers were treated at their sites. The policeman and the coordinator of the voting site were both very keen to make sure that I was well attended. My job was to observe the site and report any suspicious activity. I also was required to fill out three surveys, which were used as a sample.

The voting site was supposed to open at 9am, but did not open until 9:30am (Peruvian time, nothing unusual). There was a steady stream of voters throughout he day, and the polls closed at 4pm. Voting is obligatory in Peru. While there are ups and downs to obligatory voting, one upside is that I definitely noticed more people take an active interest in the election; it is treated like a holiday. People travel from all parts of the country to vote on this day, but also treat it as an excuse to visit family and friends.

The most contested race was for mayor of Lima, between Susana Villaran and Lourdes Flores. While Susana Villaran has had a steady lead for the past month, they election results have them being 1% apart from one another. They are supposed to announce the official winner today.

A New Baby in the Family

Welcome! My host mother recently gave birth to Dulce Thais Aller. She was born September 25, 2010, healthy. (The baby on the left is Kalet, her cousin who was born earlier in September.)

"Stalin es el cambio"...Beach Vacation in Tumbes and Piura

They say that the north of Peru is known for its delicious food, its friendly people, and its calentura- both in temperature and in all things related to love. After my visit to Tumbes and Piura, I would say that the generalization is accurate. The food is definitely delicious. I ate ceviche everyday- the highlight being the ceviche that I ate on the beach prepared on the spot with fresh fish caught by fishermen. I stayed at a resort called Hoja de Palma, which is near Mancora- the surfing capitol and beach hotspot in Peru. Hoja de Palma is much more relaxed, without the crowd of Mancora nor the fiestas. I was amazed at the amount of sea life on the beach and saw everything from crabs (which rule the beach), to octopus, to seahorses, to oyesters, to sea turtles, to pelicans, to all kinds of fish, to vultures.

The last two days I spend in Sullana, which is a town in Piura, known for its parcelas or small agricultural farms. I stayed with the family of Placida, one of the women that I work with in Candelaria. Her family took me in as if I were their own and by the time I left I was the "sobrina" (niece) of the family. I immediately noticed that the political activity in the rural part of Peru appears to be stronger than in Lima. There are a lot more political parties and candidates and a lot more volunteers who canvass. One of my favorite slogans was "Stalin...es el cambio;" "Stalin es humilde."

I went to visit the parcela of Rafael, Placida's brother in law. He owns a small agricultural plot of 50 hectares. He grows lime, mangos, cotton, papaya, peanuts, beans, coconuts, sugarcane, and yuca and sent me home with a huge bag of these goodies. Over a case of beers, Rafael proceeded to tell me how small agricultural farms are suffering from takeovers by big impresas such as Dole, which has had a large presence in Sullana since 2001. Even if they form organizations, such as their's of 50 small agriculturalists, they simply cannot compete. Even though Dole has a foundation and says they are helping small time agriculturalists, they cant help all of them in Sullana, and the majority seem to be suffering.

I left my trip to the north with a reinforced sentiment that those with the least seem to always give the most.

The Rise and Fall of Political Parties in Peru

My latest post for Americas Quarterly:

For the last two election cycles in which Lourdes Flores has run for president, polls have always shown her with strong leads in the weeks before elections, but come election night, she has lost. This time she is running for mayor of Lima on the Partido Popular Cristiano political party ticket and it looks like the trend will continue. Recent revelations of her close ties to Cesar Castano, the owner of Peruvian Airlines, who is currently under suspicion of narco-trafficking, have caused her numbers to slide in the polls with the October elections fast approaching.

While this could signal yet another political disappointment for Lourdes, it also raises questions about the strength of her political party affiliation and Peru’s political party system overall. Perhaps, this is because the formal institutionalization of political parties under the Peruvian legal system did not happen until 2003. But there is also simply a culture of informality with political parties here. Parties are often created every election cycle to fill a vacuum of political institutions and ideas, but they are not sustainable. They are created out of necessity during elections years to organize campaigns rather than built over the long-term, based on political ideas and platforms.

Often, candidates in high profile races like Lima mayor or president form party alliances and then find candidates in the provinces and local areas to carry the name of the party bloc. After the election, the political party disappears only to be resurrected using the same name or another name in the next election cycle. Also common: political parties field candidates only at the municipal level and do not have national candidates or they are only national and struggle to find municipal candidates.

Another problem parties face is that they are often formed around a single figurehead. When that person leaves office, the strength of the party also falls. This is the case for President Alan Garcia’s political party, Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana, (APRA). With Garcia’s term as president ending, APRA has struggled to find candidates to fill national and local posts because the strength of the party depended on Garcia’s candidacy and term as president. The same could be true for Partido Popular Cristiano, which has spent a lot of time and energy in creating a brand for the party. However, it remains to be seen if her new party will fall with Lourdes, assuming she loses and history repeats itself.

Although political parties have a turbulent history, Peruvian politicians and citizens can help strengthen the system. For example, there has been a recent movement to create a primary voting system within the parties. This would help shift the image of parties from a single figurehead to a party with a platform. Another suggestion for party leaders would be to focus on branding a platform that is about more than just the vague promise of public works projects. At present, almost all the political parties and candidates have made nearly identical promises for reforms and public works projects. The very essence of a political party, however, should be its platform of ideas or ideology. If a party’s agenda is indistinguishable from the competition or its platform is reconstructed every election cycle, there is no foundation upon which to build longer-term voter party affiliation. Lastly, there needs to be more decentralization in the party system. Almost all political party activity and power is centered in Lima. To build a strong base, a political party must reach beyond the capital and into the arms of those living in el campo.

ENAP en Ayacucho and a little bit on Peruvian Politics

In Peru, the government, both national and municipal, has created multiple avenues for youth participation in politics. For example, there is a quota for the number of young people in office. As a result, there are many youth candidates who run for political office such as city council and even mayor. There are also special forums for youth in the community to propose projects that are then funded by the local governments.

In July, I was invited to give a presentation at the 6th annual Encuentro Nacional de Actores Políticos Jóvenes, which is conference for young people who are involved in politics as candidates or in other forms. At the conference, there were about 20 youth candidates from all over the country and about 50-60 others who attended. They come from all over the country and receive training. The coordinators asked me to give a presentation on youth involvement in American politics. This was my first presentation in Spanish in front of a large group of people and political candidates, but it turned out just fine. I talked about the American political system, gave some statistics on youth participation, about political primaries, and then talked about how to engage youth in politics, using the Obama campaign as an example.

The municipal elections are in October and the national election is in April of next year. There is a certain cynicism about politics especially because voting is mandatory. 1) people dont vote for candidates, but rather vote against candidates (lesser evil of the two) 2) political parties dont exist in Peru, and change each year 3) most candidates dont talk about issues nor about solving problems, rather they try to win votes by showing their face the most. I witnessed the latter point in action. Yesterday, I attended a political concert/rally by one of the mayoral candidates in my neighborhood. He is the current mayor, running for re-election (against 16 other candidates. He is not the frontrunner, but rather in the middle) and used public space to contract a popular band in Peru to throw a concert. The idea is to get out your name and symbol (for those that are illiterate) for voting to as many people as possible.

More to come as the election draws near!

A Peruvian Fourth of July + Social Work

Something many people may not know about the Fulbright is that a Fulbright fellow is supposed to spend 1/2 the time in their country doing research and the other 1/2 of the time sharing American culture with those in the host country. As a result, I decided to throw a big Fourth of July bash in Candelaria.

The party started off with a BBQ fundraiser. Then, we played traditional games with the kids such as Capture the Flag, potato sack contest, musical chairs etc. I also hired a clown and Mickey Mouse to do a show for kids. We also had a raffle and the party really began with a castillo or the Peruvian version of fireworks. We danced all night long, until 6:30am.

The BBQ was a fundraiser for the project that I am working on in the community. In total we raised 1100 soles ($350). The project in Candelaria is 100% participatory, with the mother's making all the decisions. They decided that the greatest needs are social- a community center, workshops, classes, a nursury, and a co-op. My goal is to set the foundation for all of these things to emerge in Candelaria before I leave.

A snapshot of the community
I completed a needs assessment in Candelaria during the month of June. Here are some results:

• Most of the mother's migrated from the rural parts of the country
• Most of the mother's have less than secondary level of education (thus it is very difficult for them to help their kids with their homework)
• the majority of households earn 300-600 soles per month ($100-200).
  
• The average age of the mothers is 35
• The average number of children in the household is 3.7
• There are a handful number of women who are illiterate
  

If you are interested in donating to the project, please email me at sabrinamkarim@fulbrightmail.org

Who's Who in Lima's Mayoral Race

Here is my post from America's Quarterly:

It’s election season in Lima. In less than three months, Limeños will go to the polls to choose the successor for outgoing Mayor Luis Castañeda Lossio who will be running in the April 2011 presidential contest. Although there are two frontrunners, 12 candidates have formally registered to run in the October 3 mayoral contest.

Here is a brief summary of each candidate:

• Lourdes Flores: the leading candidate in the race. She is a center-right candidate and is the leader of the Partido Popular Christano (PPC). Flores ran for the presidency in Peru twice and came in third place both times. Her campaign is based on reforming security and public transportation.
• Álex Kouri: currently in second place. Kouri is the current mayor of the city of Callou. He has a reputation for completing public works projects, but also has recently been tainted by scandal. He is from the Cambio Radical party, which leans to the right.
• Humberto Lay: candidate from the Restauración Nacional party. He is currently tied with Fernando Andrade for third place. Lay is an Evangelist candidate and founder of the church Iglesia Alianza Cristiana y Misionera who has focused his campaign on fighting corruption. He came in second place in the 2006 Lima mayoral contest.
• Fernando Andrade: member of the Somos Peru party. Tied with Humberto Lay for third place, Andrade is a former mayor of Miraflores, a wealthy district of Lima. His brother, Alberto Andrade, founded the party and was a popular mayor of Lima, winning the 2002 election with a clear majority. With Alberto’s death, Fernando has sought to follow his political path.
• Susana Villarán: the leftist candidate and a member of the Fuerza Social party. She is the most popular candidate on Facebook. Her campaign is focused on providing more nutrition to the poor by reforming the Vaso de Leche program and Comedor Populares. She is also concerned about security and public transportation.
• Maria Eugenia de la Puente: member of the Partido Humanista. Her father was a leader in the leftist movement. She is a business owner and has focused her campaign on cleaning up the image of Lima.
• Raul Canelo: member of the Partido Fonavista. His candidacy is based on fighting for a referendum to restore funds for the Fondo Nacional de Vivienda, which was a social program designed to increase workers’ access to funding. He is well-known lawyer throughout Lima.
• Alex Gonzalez: member of the Partido Siempre Unidos. He is an ecologist and is presenting himself as the “green candidate,” with a platform that includes creating a green transportation system.
• Luis Iberico: member of the Alianza para el Progreso party. He is a former reporter and congressman and was a major figure in the media in opposition to the Fujimori government. He is a centrist candidate.
• Carlos Roca: member of the Partido Aprista—the political party of President Alan Garcia. He promises to travel to every corner of Lima and learn about problems within each community.
• Gonzalo Alegría: member of the Accion Popular party. His campaign is focused on security, order and development.
• Walter Ibañez: member of the Todos por el Perú party.

Udate from Peru: Pachamanka and Machu Pichu

I was out traveling for a large part of May and without much time or Internet access. Hence the reason for the delay in posting.

• My dad came to visit me in May and the community of Candelaria and my friends decided to host a Pachamanka for him. Pacha means earth and manka means hole. But, its a traditional meal from the Sierra where potatoes, sweet potatoes, lima beans, and meat is cooked in the earth. The food is incredibly decision and takes almost and entire day to prepare. First, one has to dig the hole in a very particular way, and then cook the food, which takes a long time. My friend Dora in Candelaria hosted the fiesta in her house and my friend Jhonny prepared the food. It made me feel like I have become accepted into the community and have built some long lasting friendships.

• While my dad was visiting, we went to Cusco and Machu Pichu for several days. There is truly something magical about the place. Once you get there, the clouds open up and reveal this enchanting city. They say that Machu Pichu was a summer palace for the Inca Emperor Pachacutec and was found completely intact (the Spanish conquistadores did not find know of the place). It was discovered by an archeologist from Yale university. The artifacts from Machu Pichu are still at Yale, pending a request from Peru for their return. For anyone planning to visit the place, instead of doing the Waynu Pichu hike, for which you have to get up at 4am and be lucky enough to be one of the 400 people who are allowed on the hike per day, it is better to do the "Inca Mountain" hike, which is splits off from the "Puerta de Sol" hike. It is 1.5hours of straight climbing stairs to the top of the mountain, which has the best aerial view of Machu Pichu.

My New Favorite Tradition: Godparenting Roofs

Over the weekend, I learned about a Peruvian tradition: inaugurating newly built roofs of houses. The tradition is to hang two bottles of champagne and flowers from the roof and select a Madrina and Padrino to break the bottles. Then the fiesta begins with a huge meal, to feed those that helped build the roof, and lots of drinking and dancing. I was selected by my neighbor to be Madrina of his roof and honored that role as best as could!

Ecuador’s Open Border Rhetoric

My latest post for AQ:

In a world shaped by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, where goods and services cross borders with relative ease, it is often difficult to say the same about people. However, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador has been a leader in championing integration efforts, in particular open border policies in the Western Hemisphere. Ecuador’s 2008 constitution has provisions guaranteeing the free movement of people through Ecuador’s borders and the country is planning to pressure the Organization of American States (OAS) to adopt open-border policies that allow all people from the Americas to have free movement across the region.

These initiatives do not come without tension and controversy. Historically, Ecuador has experienced a number of border conflicts—particularly with Peru and more recently tensions over military incursions by Colombia into Ecuador—and understands the importance of border security. How the country reconciles this history with its new rhetoric of open borders has proved to be challenging. On one hand Ecuador is forced to limit diplomatic relations with Colombia and has expressed concern over the number of refugees crossing the border into Ecuador. At the same time, it is promoting integration as official foreign policy. For Ecuador, fully resolving the Colombian border conflict may be a first step toward an integrated regional body.

The United States has expressed concern over Ecuador’s open border policies. One of the most pressing issues seems to be over undocumented immigration and smuggling. The fear is that Ecuador will be used as a staging ground for entry into the United States. These concerns come at a time when undocumented immigration is a heated topic in the United States. Countries from all over Latin America have voiced their disapproval of SB 1070 in Arizona, and Ecuador is planning on opening a new consulate in Arizona to help its nationals. Ecuador may be trying to claim the moral high ground over the United States, but we still have yet to see whether there is substance behind this rhetoric, or if President Correa’s gestures are at best symbolic.

Yucca in Puno and Lake Titikaka

There is a Peruvian verb: enyucar, which has a very interesting history. It comes from Fujimori’s presidential campaign. He promised the Peruvians that he would not engage in privatizing services, but when he came into power that is exactly what he did. He was known to always carry yucca with him, so yucca became a symbol of deceit and the verb enyucar means to deceive or cheat. For example, when you are bargaining in the markets, you can say “what’s the price ‘sin yucca’,” or “what’s the price without yucca/deceit.”

In Puno, I saw the most beautiful sunset and sunrise on water I have ever seen. The beauty of Lake Titikaka is unmatched. But, I was surprised to find Puno to be filled with tourists. I was not expecting this to be the case, but Europeans and Americans filled the streets. For this reason, there is a lot yucca in around the area.

My friends Carrie and John came to visit me and we met in Puno and decided to spend two days and two nights on the islands in Lake Titikaka. All the guidebooks say that its best to try to visit the islands on your own, instead of using a tour group. But, this appeared to be impossible, as all the boats were connected to a tour group. So, we managed to catch the last boat to Amantani and spent the day and night there, which was very nice. (See pictures) The next day, we went to Taquile, but were told that there was no boat that would return back to Puno the next morning (we needed to return in by the afternoon because our flight back to Lima was in the afternoon). As a result, we agreed to hire a private boat for 200 soles (which was a yucca because we knew that there were non tourist boats that left sometimes for 10 soles). We spent the day hiking and when the thunderstorm came, we ate a candlelit dinner in our hut (because there was no electricity or running water).

The next morning, we came down for breakfast, after watching the sunrise and were met by someone who was the captain of the boat. They informed us that they would charge 300 soles to take us or they would not take us. After arguing with them, I finally consented since we didn’t have another choice. Luckily, we didn’t have the money on us, so we negotiated that we would go to the bank and then give him the money. We searched for other boats, but to no avail, so were forced to take this boat. On the boat ride back to Puno, we angrily discussed what we were going to do, 1) give 200 soles and walk away 2) Offer the dollars we had 3) Actually give him the 250 newly negotiated price. We came to the conclusion that it was the tour company and the middleman (out host) that had “enyuca’d” us, and not the captain. As a result, we decided to offer the dollars first (which was equivalent to about 200 soles) and then to pay the 250 soles because the captain was probably not at fault (this was much analysis of the situation).

In the end, we were all happy and laughed about the situation, because the captain ended up being more than happy to take the dollars and we were happy to have only paid the original agreed upon 200 soles.

La Faena and the “Real” Value of Work

On Saturday, I learned about the meaning of hard labor. I woke up at 5am to help the community members of Candelaria clear cement, rock, and dirt to build a clinic. Each manzana was responsible for their own share of clearing the cement. We got there an only about 1/3 of the manzana was there to help with the work. At first, the labor was gendered, with the men doing the work of actually breaking the cement with sledge hammars and pick axes and shoveling the rocks and dirt into wheelbarrows and potato sacks, which the women carried in pairs to the dirt pile. But, as people tapered off, the women, including myself, started doing the “men’s work.”

Everyone in the manzana had the option to either pay 10 soles (about $4) or to do the work that morning. This translated to the work being worth about $1 per hour (we were there for more than 4 hours). It occurred to me how little this kind of “real,” “hard,” physical labor is actually worth, obviously not the same worth as “real,” “had,” intellectual work. To me the former was much harder than the latter, so why is the former valued as so much less?

Despite this realization, the sight was beautiful. The community – men, women, and children,- working together to better their community. One sight in particular caught my attention- a woman with a baby wrapped in a blanket around her back carrying dirt, rocks, and slabs of cement, using a potato sack. It made me wonder something else. Why is it that the poor are made to work for their basic necessities when other communities, relatively richer ones, receive the same services for free from the state? The answer is complicated, I know, but it just seemed like an injustice to me. Before, the faenas were mandatory for the community every Sunday, meaning that there was no day for resting from work (most people work 6 days a week).

At the same time, I am sure that the community of Candelaria understands the value of hard work; there is no such thing as entitlement. From the pistas, to the lights, to the walls, everything they have has been done using their bare hands, with their sweat. I am sure they also understand in a way that others do not, the sense of community and solidarity, something that wealth cannot buy. As I was leaving, I had mixed feelings about how we come to value things and how we can sometimes have no concept of the “real” value of hard work, money, entitlement, and community. Its something that the community of Candelaria understands a lot better than I ever will.

La Copa Libertadores

You know the feeling when you are watching something happen to you in slow motion? That happened to me for the first time last night, when I was at a Peruvian national soccer game. This was the fourth time that I have been to a South American soccer game and just like the other times, the excitement and emotion among the crowd was the highlight of the game. Each time I have gone to a game, I’ve always bought tickets for the “South,” the cheapest section, with the liveliest crowd (which is an understatement). I went to a Copa Libertadores game (the three best national teams from each South American country play in a tournament to determine the best team in South America), between Alianza from Peru against La “U” de Chile.

Two of my officemates were kind of enough to accompany me to the game and watch over me. We got there about an hour and half early and the crowd was already pretty riled up. I quickly learned that the crowd was not just composed of crazy fans, but also thieves who were shameless in their attempts to rob people. While my friend, Miguel was holding me and protecting me from the crowd, which seemed to take pleasure in pushing people down the steps, a group of four or five thieves grabbed him from behind. I desperately tried to keep a hold of him, but let go, and they pulled him to the ground and started trying to grab things from him, while others had him pinned down. This was happening while the other men in our group held on to me to ensure that I wouldn’t be pulled down as well. We looked on helplessly as our friend was being robbed. Except that, there was nothing to rob because he had carried anything with him, no phone, no money, nothing. Luckily, the crowd doesn’t react so kindly to thieves, so the they started to fight the thieves, and they finally let him go.

It was the beginning to a night of pushing and shoving, but also to a pretty entertaining time. At times, I wondered if the crowd was supporting the same team, because they kept fighting with one another. There seems to be a culture of paternalism in that the older men keep watch to make sure that the entire crowd continued to sing and chant the entire game. If they saw that some people were not singing, they take it upon themselves to push then down the steps. A few times my friends were saved from this fate because they would not dare shove a woman. At least the chivalrous culture comes in handy sometimes!

Despite the pushing and shoving, the game was a lot of fun. The emotion and excitement of the fans in South American is unmatched. When the team enters the field, the streamers, confetti, songs, yelling, and fire is truly a site. And the singing and jumping never ends, no for a second. Not when the other team scores a goal, not when the team misses a goal, its ongoing; a ritual. Going to such a game is definitely an experience that I would gladly repeat with one exception, next time it would be better if Alianza won.