Images of Occupation

What do we mean when we use the word "Occupation"?  I have been involved in IfNotNow (INN), an organization fighting to end the American Jewish support for the occupation, since February.  Being part of INN has been really meaningful - finally I have the opportunity to really engage in conversations, learning, and activism around Israel/Palestine.  But what do we mean when we say occupation?  Before joining the Center for Jewish Nonviolence in the West Bank five days ago, it was, in some ways, a very vague concept to me.  I knew there were horrible human rights violations, I knew there was military force being used against Palestinians, and I knew about settlements, walls, and checkpoints; but I couldn't really visualize any of this.  My hope in sharing some images and captions is that I can start to spread the atrocities being committed against Palestinians under military occupation.  This is only a start.

This is Claire.  In this picture she is standing between her house on the left and the wall on the right.  Her house is surrounded on three sides, she has lost significant business and says that this feels like being imprisoned.  Between 1996 and 2004, Claire and her family were subject to extreme military invasion.  She shares stories of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers invading her home to use her roof as a lookout and times that her home was nearly destroyed.  The wall illegally runs into Bethlehem in this area so that Israelis can visit nearby Rachel's Tomb.  Learn more about Claire here.

This is the Carmel settlement.  It runs along the fence of Umm al-Khair, a Palestinian village.  Settlements allow Jews to live in the West Bank and even live in the middle or on top of Palestinian villages, thus splitting or displacing groups of people.  Settlements are supported by Israel with military protection and all of the rights of being an Israeli citizen (like water and electricity...see next picture).  Settlers are not allowed to expand their settlements without permits, but they often do expand by creating outposts.  Outposts are illegal; however, while the case goes to court, the IDF protects the families and they are allowed to build infrastructure.  By the time the case is heard, the outpost is so established that it becomes a legal settlement.

This is a picture taken in the Palestinian village of Susiya of their solar panels and water system.  Many Palestinians live very environmentally friendly in Area C (Israeli controlled parts of the West Bank) because they are not given access to the grid for water and electricity.  Another way Israel does not grant the same rights to Palestinians in the West Bank as it does to the settlers.

I shared this picture in my previous blog post.  It is a picture of a demolished home in Susiya.  The IDF is able to issue demolition orders to many buildings in Palestinian villages and they can then be demolished at any time.  The destruction of homes is dehumanizing and a shocking show of military power.

The settlement of Susiya is built in the middle of the Palestinian village of Susiya.  Palestinians were forced out of their homes by settlers and the Israeli government and their homes were turned into an archaeological site.  This marker, pictured above, is found at the archaeological site of Susiya and shows that it was funded by Americans - someone from Silver Spring, MD and the Jewish National Fund.  American Jews contributed to the displacement of Palestinians.  This is why it is so important to end the American Jewish support of the occupation!  Also, not surprisingly, there is no acknowledgement of Palestinian history at this site - it only tells stories of Jewish history.

This is a street in Hebron that used to be a main street - a bustling area of commerce and social life.  Hebron is divided in two parts - H1 (Palestinian control) and H2 (Israeli control).  H1 makes up about 80% of the city and H2 is about 20% of the city.  The settlements make up about 3% of H2.  Between 2000 and 2016, the Palestinian center of H2 has become a ghost town.  Shops were closed, doors were welded shut, families were forced out.  There are complicated laws about which streets Palestinians are allowed on and road laws change block by block.  Some residents are not allowed on the streets outside the front of their houses.  The pushing out of Palestinians in H2 was extremely strategic.

 Most Palestinians living in H2 have built cages around their windows in order to protect themselves from settler violence.  Settlers are given significant protection by the IDF and police, Palestinians are not.  They literally have to cage themselves in.

This sign stands at the entrance of all Area A (Palestinian controlled) cities.  It reads "This road leads to Area "A" under the Palestinian Authority, the entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden, dangerous to your lives, and is against the Israeli law."  This sign and the law it represents further separates Israelis and Palestinians.  It strikes fear in Israelis and everyone who drives past it (I want to note that I have felt very safe everywhere I have visited in Area A so far) and it draws attention to the real, concrete, militarily, legally enforced barriers to living as a Palestinian in the West Bank.  The blocking of roads is an important tool used to keep Palestinians restricted from certain areas and Palestinians and Israelis separate.

Occupation is Not Our Judaism

            I am finding it hard to put into words what I have been seeing, hearing, learning, experiencing, feeling.  During an activity this evening with Center for Jewish Nonviolence director Ilana Sumka about nonviolence as a personal/spiritual practice, Ilana asked us to start by going around the group and saying two words that described how we were feeling after today.  My words were horrified and rejuvenated.  I feel horrified after seeing the 12-meter wall that surrounds Bethlehem to keep Palestinians out of Israel, after hearing stories of violence and manipulation, and after visiting the recently demolished homes in part of the village of Susiya.  I feel rejuvenated after seeing the resilience of individuals and communities in Palestinian villages and from being surrounded by an insightful, strong, and dedicated group of Jews fighting to end the occupation.

            My head is spinning with facts – I am learning a lot about what it actually means that there is an occupation; many facts about settlements, Israeli and Palestinian history; and nonviolence.  I hope to write more about all of these at a later time, when I am not as exhausted.  For now, I want to share a little about what we have been doing since arriving in Bethlehem on Sunday morning (less than 48 hours ago, hard to believe!) and who is part of the group.  We are an intergenerational group of 45 people from 7 different countries, representing many different movements of Judaism and activist organizations.  It is an incredible group of people that really cares about each other and about learning about and ending the occupation.  It is remarkable to be part of a group where I don’t have to worry about my politics and am free to ask questions and discuss honestly.  In standing in solidarity with Palestinians, we are also cultivating an inclusive and inspiring Jewish community.

            On Sunday afternoon we spent time touring Bethlehem, where we are staying.  One might expect that the Church of the Nativity would draw many tourists to Bethlehem; however our tour guide, Elias, explained that tourists that do visit only come for an hour and jump on and off the tour bus.  This means that Bethlehem’s economy suffers.  As we toured, Elias pointed out various streets that used to thrive with commerce and have essentially shut down – people are scared to come to Bethlehem.  In addition to walking through the heart of Bethlehem and seeing many shops and restaurants, peace centers and churches, we walked along the 12-meter tall, concrete wall that divides Jerusalem from Bethlehem.  The wall made me feel claustrophobic, we were closed in and could not see the rolling hills beyond.  What must it feel like to live behind walls like this?  Elias described it as an open air prison – furthering this concept by sharing that all Palestinians must carry their ID cards everywhere they go and can only go into Israel if they get a permit in advance and must have a “good” reason to visit Israel, such as work or a doctor’s visit – it is very hard to obtain a permit.  Despite all this, there was obvious resilience from the Palestinians that live behind these walls.  There was lots of graffiti on the walls that said things like “Free Palestine” and “Embody Solidarity.”  There were also banners with stories of Palestinians on the walls, designed by an Arab-Palestinian NGO, which were powerful to read.

Standing next to the wall in Bethlehem

            On Monday, we spent the morning at Umm al-Khair, a Palestinian village of about 100 people in the South Hebron Hills where we helped to till fields so that they will be ready to plant za’atar.  This village sits against the settlement of Carmel and it is shocking to see the big houses of the settlement and the waving Israeli flags through the fence.  Umm al-Khair has many demolition notices for its buildings – it is unclear if and when these demolitions will happen, but it is a possibility at any moment.  However, we are planting so that it will be harder for the Israeli Civil Authority to justify demolishing these homes.  Despite the hard work, hot sun, and desperate situation, our hosts smiled, sang, danced, and celebrated (especially when they found out that one of the boys in the village passed his matriculation exams and will be able to apply to go to university).

            Monday afternoon, we visited the Palestinian villages of Susiya and AL-Twani.  Susiya is a divided village with the settlement of Susiya right in the middle.  The settlement is on the grid, which means they get water and electricity.  Susiya is not.  Most Palestinian villages use solar and wind power and collect rain water and/or bring in water.  A staggering fact is that the UN says that health code requires that there be 100 liters of water per person per day available; however, the settlements have enough water for 450 liters per person per day, while the near by Palestinian villages have between 20 and 70 liters of water per person per day available.  This is just one illustration (and concrete number) that shows the deep divide between the treatment of Israelis and Palestinians. 

            In Susiya we also saw recently demolished homes and rebuilding efforts of these families.  We talked about the trauma that one goes through when they see their home demolished and the importance of rebuilding.  We saw the rubble and the concrete slabs covered by a tent that serves as a home.  We were welcomed by a family who smiled and gave us candy, despite what they have been through.

Recently demolished homes in Susiya

            There are so many symbols of the occupation that we saw throughout the day.  It is upsetting and dehumanizing for the people that live under it.  I am so thankful to be part of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence – for the chance to learn, to see, and to fight for a future of freedom and dignity for all.

            I’ll write soon – it’s 11 pm and I have to be ready to work in the hot fields again tomorrow, with breakfast at 6 am!

P.S. Check out the Center for Jewish Nonviolence’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CenterForJewishNonviolence/ - we will post updates, pictures, and videos there as well!

Summer Plans: Heading to the West Bank

This July, I will be joining the Center for Jewish Nonviolence with Jews from around the world for 10 days of solidarity activism with Palestinians in the West Bank.  We will work with Palestinians who are being evicted from their homes and pushed off their land in the name of ongoing settlement expansion and occupation. Likely projects include: infrastructure development, agricultural projects, sit-ins, and marches.

This delegation is called "Occupation is Not Our Judaism."  I have always struggled with the idea that we can participate in a Judaism that celebrates liberation and instills values of social justice, while actively or passively supporting the occupation.  By spending time in the West Bank this summer, I'm hoping to gain my own understanding of how the incredibly complicated dynamics of Israeli/Palestinian relations affect people in their day to day lives.

I believe that it is important for American Jews to see first hand what is happening in the West Bank and Israel because the American Jewish establishment blindly supports the occupation and continues to silence Jews who believe in the liberation of all people.  Because of this I've joined IfNotNow, a new young-adult-led organization, that seeks to end the American Jewish support of the occupation.  This trip is an opportunity to inform me and to help me become a more confident leader by deepening my understanding of the occupation through personal experience and shared stories.

I am raising $2500 to cover the cost of my participation in the delegation and airfare.  Any donation, big or small, will help me reach this goal. I hope you'll be willing to support me in this journey in any way you can. Please follow my blog here at http://aharrisridker.blogspot.com/, donate to support my trip if that's possible at https://igg.me/at/SZFMdJhQUsE, and most important I look forward to sharing my stories with you when I return.

Aeropuerto de Lima

    Ahora, estoy en el aeropuerto de Lima.  Tengo seis mas horas aqui y despues yo voy a Miami y despues Chicago!!  Estaba aqui en Peru para cuatro meses, entonces creo que es tiempo para escribir en espanol para mi blog.  Y ahora tengo mucho tiempo!  No quiero regresar a los Estados Unidos, pero quiero ver mi familia.
    Estoy feliz que he visto Puerto Maldonado porque es muy diferente que Pisac o Cusco.  Esta ciudad es mas similar a Chiang Mai, Thailand que Cusco o Pisac.
    Ayer, para cena, tenia pescado con salsa de maracuya.  Que rico!  Y ayer habia una fiesta en las calles y en la plaza para el aniversario de Puerto Maldonado - cien anos!  Me gustaba Puerto Maldonado y Taricaya, pero hay mucho mucho mucho mosquitos y tambien hay mucho calor y humedo que no me gusta.
    Creo que yo hace todo que yo quiere hacer en Pisac y Cusco.  He caminado en el mercado muchas veces y he comprado muchos regalos!  Fui a todas las ruinas en el valle segrado y fui a tres iglesias.  Y tambien fui a fiestas con mi familia y fui a Lago Titicaca y la selva.  Creo que tengo muchas cosas hacer si yo regreso a Peru, pero por ahora estoy feliz!
    Hay mucho para hacer en Lima - ahora, yo voy a tener un mesage de mis pies!

Tapirs and Jaguars and Bats! Oh My!

           I am now in Puerto Maldonado before I leave on Sunday (tomorrow!) to go home.  The boat from the conservation project, which is an hour away from Puerto Maldonado, only goes to Puerto Maldonado on Saturday mornings, so I am hanging out and spending the night here with lots of other volunteers.  I cannot believe that I am leaving already!  I am excited to go home, but I am also not ready to leave.  Anyway, here’s what I have been doing for the past week at Taricaya Ecological Reserve and Conservation Project.

            When I got off the plane in Puerto Maldonado on Sunday afternoon, I was expecting the heat so I was not surprised that when I climbed down the stairs of the plane that I almost immediately started sweating in the 100% humidity.  I was surprised, however, that it felt so hard to breathe because of the humidity.  And I was also surprised that the rain forest has a very distinct smell - the same smell of the humid, smelly, rainforest room at the zoo, I guess they are accurate.

            The airport is tiny and I was immediately met by a taxi driver holding a Projects Abroad sign who took me to Elvira’s house (the volunteer coordinator) where I had lunch and waited for thirty minutes before we went to the port to take the boat to the Taricaya lodge where the conservation project is located.  We went to the boat and I met several of the other volunteers and staff that had been in Puerto Maldonado for the weekend.  Then we took the hour long boat ride to the lodge.  When we got there, we formed an assembly line to take all of the suitcases, food for the week, and toilet paper off the boat.  The boat only goes back to Puerto Maldonado once a week, so they have to bring all the food on Sunday for all ten volunteers, fifteen staff, and all the animals.  After bringing all the food to the kitchen, the two other new volunteers and I were given a short introduction and shown our rooms.  The rooms are small bungalows with two bunk beds and a bathroom in each.  For the first three days, I had my own bungalow and was joined by Yuca, a girl from Japan, on Wednesday.

            Everyday at Taricaya each volunteer does two or three “activities.”  An activity can be anything from feeding animals to cleaning out their cages to clearing farm areas.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we have breakfast at 7:15 and then have a morning activity from 8 to 11, lunch at noon, a siesta until 3:30 and then a second activity from 3:30 to 5:30 and dinner at 7.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we wake up earlier to bird watch at 5:30 and then have breakfast at 8, a second activity from 9 to 11, and the rest of the day is the same schedule.

            On Monday, my first activity was “New Farm 2.”  The conservation project has two farms, a little ways from the main lodge, that they experiment on to see what farming methods are best for protecting the environment that can be taught to local farmers.  A big problem in this area is that farmers tend to use the slash and burn method of farming, which drains the soil of proper nutrients and thus makes the land usable for only 5 or 6 years.  Most farmers in this area have bananas as their main or only crop, so another problem is that since so many people grow bananas in this area they are really cheap, so sometimes it is cheaper for the farmers to let their bananas rot rather than pick them and pay for the gas to bring them down the river in a boat to Puerto Maldonado.  Projects Abroad is trying to see what other things farmers can grow and sell that would be more lucrative for them and better for the environment.  They are experimenting with growing trees (that the farmers could sell for wood) next to banana trees and that could be cut down once there was too much shade for the bananas - this would teach the farmers to think more in the long term rather than their current thinking which tends to be short term.  They are also doing things like growing flowers and chilies that the farmers could learn to grow and then sell in the markets.  Anyway, I got to use a machete to help to clear the farm of anything growing except for the banana trees, so they can start their experimenting.  Everything chopped down will stay on the ground to fertilize the earth.

            After a much need lunch and nap and putting band aids on the cuts and blisters on my hands, my afternoon activity was animal feeding.  For this, there are typed up sheets with exact amounts of food written out that each animal needs (i.e. 100 grams of banana and 80 grams of apple).  Each animal or group of animals has a bowl or plate and we had to cut up the various fruits and vegetables and put them in the bowls and then bring them around to the various cages.  My favorite part was going into the monkey cages and having them climb on me.

            On Tuesday, I woke up early for bird watching.  I was assigned to go to the canopy.  I am glad I didn’t know what this would entail before I did it - otherwise I wouldn’t have gone.  We met and the four of us going to the canopy grabbed harnesses.  We walked through the forest for ten minutes and then got to a tree that had a ladder leading up to a short platform.  Before climbing up the ladder, we put on our harnesses.  When we got to the top of the ladder, we attached our harnesses to a rope running along the side of a narrow bridge climbing to a platform on another tree 42 meters in the air.  I was terrified, but I somehow made it to the platform - my legs shaking the whole time.  And it was worth it.  It was great to look out over the trees instead of look up from under them and we found about ten birds over the course of an hour.  And I found one of them!

            My second activity on Tuesday was animal feeding again, which was the same as the afternoon before, but a little more fun because the animals have waited longer to eat so they are hungrier and more excited to see you when you arrive with their food.  In the afternoon on Tuesday, I didn’t have anything because, instead, I got to participate in the night time bat project.  There is a person here, Hugo, at Taricaya who comes for a couple of weeks at a time every couple of months who studies bats and is trying to identify the species of bats in the Amazon.  I got to help open the five nets he has set up - three in the forest and two on the bridge that I had walked on to go bird watching.  Then we waited for bats to fly into the nets.  By the end of the night we had caught 5 bats.  Hugo weighed them, measured their wing bone, identified their species and whether they were adult or juvenal, and then cut some of their hair to mark them and put a small hole with a sterilized needle in their wing in a specific spot based on what number they were that he had caught of that particular species.  It was very cool to watch all of this.  After inspecting each bat Hugo would let them fly away and he even let me release one.  I had never held a bat before!  On a different night, Hugo found one bat that he thinks is part of a species that has not been found in the Amazon since 1980, so people thought it was extinct.

            On Wednesday, my morning activity was “Fruits.”  This meant that I went by boat to a farm about five minutes away from Taricaya with a staff member and another volunteer.  At the farm we walked around cutting huge banana leaves off the trees and we filled nine large sacks with the leaves - food for the animals.  We loaded these bags onto the boat and then the farmer brought us too large buckets full of papayas and three wheelbarrows full of bananas, also for the animals.  It was hard work loading all of this onto the boat and then unloading back at Taricaya.

            My afternoon activity for Wednesday was cleaning the Tapir Pool.  The Pool is basically a big toilet for these animals and cleaning it involved filling buckets up with the smelly, dirty water and throwing it a little ways from the pool.  All around the pool was incredibly muddy, making our job even harder because it was difficult to find a good place to stand.  We did an hour of backbreaking, sweaty work - seriously it was awful.  Imagine being covered in poopy water while continuing to bend over and stand up again and again to fill up buckets and poor them out so your back and legs hurt so badly they are shaking and you’re sweating so much that you cannot even see out of your glasses because of the sweat and you can‘t clear the sweat or push the hair out of your face because your hands are covered in poop and mud.  Yep, that was me.  But it gets worse.  All of a sudden it started to pour!  We decided to go for shelter, but my rubber boots got stuck in the mud and I couldn’t get it out despite pulling and moving in every way possible.  Eventually I had to give up and pull one foot out of the boot - I tried to step onto a log, but it was too far away and I missed, sticking my foot right into the mud.  I tried to move my other boot, but out came my foot from my boot and that was that.  I pulled out my boots from the mud with my hands and walked through the ten-inch deep mud in my socks and straight to the shower, going in fully dressed to wash my smelly clothes and myself.  I will definitely be throwing those clothes away!  I got myself completely clean except for my hands, more than two hours later they still smelled like the toilet water of the pool despite how many times I washed them with soap or used Purel.  It was disgusting.

            And lucky me - Thursday I got to clean the peccary pool.  The same kind of hard and smelly work as the tapir pool, but there was less mud, which made it a little easier and meant my boots didn’t get stuck.  Oh well, I am glad that job is over!

            In the afternoon on Thursday, though, I had an easy job of chopping lettuce into miniscule pieces to feed to baby turtles.  I cut up the lettuce and then threw it into the water for the turtles to eat.  And then I got to hold a one-month old turtle.  It was surprisingly strong!

            Thursday was a long day because I had to get up to go bird watching at 5:30 in the morning.  It was fun though.  I am not very good at finding birds and cannot identify them at all, but Rike, a staff member, was with us and was able to quickly spot and identify birds - we saw parrots, parakeets, humming birds (that kept coming up to us because they are attracted to the color red and I happened to be wearing a bright red shirt), and several other kinds of birds.

            And for lunch on Thursday, we had fresh ceviche.  One of the staff members caught a huge fish from the river the day before.  It was great.

            On Friday, my morning activity was working to clean out fifteen containers full of caterpillars.  First I had to go outside and cut down a few banana leaves and then cut them into 6 inch by 1 foot pieces for new food for the caterpillars.  Then I would open up each box take out the old leaf, which could be anything from a whole leaf with little bite marks taken out to only a bit of the stem left, depending on the number and size of the caterpillars in each particular box.  I also had to count the caterpillars to make sure none were missing and move them off the leaf with a wet paint brush so that I wouldn’t squish them with my fingers.  Then I had to dump out the poop and toilet paper from the box and replace them with new toilet paper and a new leaf with its stem in a small test tube full of water, make sure the caterpillars were all in the box and close up the box.  There is a butterfly specialist on the conservation project studying the different types of butterflies in this part of the Amazon - so far he has found 476 different species.  They have built a butterfly house and are reproducing the butterflies that are endangered, which is why they have so many caterpillars they are taking care of.

            In the afternoon on Friday I got to help feed the jaguar, Preciosa, in the rescue center.  First Raul, one of the staff people, put Preciosa in a smaller cage by using a pulley system from outside the big cage to open a door to the small cage and tempting her with a big piece of chicken.  After getting Preciosa in her smaller cage and closing it up, five of us entered the large cage and took out old plants, swept up pieces of cardboard and bones from last week, put in new tree branches with lots of leaves on them, and lastly placed a lot of cold, raw meat all around the cage.  Some of the meat we rolled up into banana leaves or put into closed boxes so that Preciosa could have more of a challenge eating.  Then we all left the cage, closed it up, and watched as Preciosa was let back into her big cage and happily ran around devouring pieces of meat.  The only thing that was scary was that I was up close to the cage, like other volunteers were, taking a picture and all of a sudden Preciosa stopped what she was doing and ran directly at me, jumping up at the fencing on the cage.  I screamed and ran backwards.  Nothing would have happened because it is a strong cage, but it was a little disconcerting to have this huge animal running directly at me.

            On Saturday morning, we took a boat at 5:30 in the morning to Puerto Maldonado.  As we were getting off the boat and walking across a slippery, narrow bridge, I was holding my huge suitcase and somehow slipped and fell into the deep water.  I amazingly saved my suitcase from going in, except for the bottom of it, but I fell in up to my neck - getting all my clothes wet and completely submerging my backpack full of electronics.  Amazingly none of my electronics are ruined, except for my camera, which was around my neck, but hopefully it will dry.  Thankfully it’s my last day and I was able to save all the pictures from the memory card!  I sloshed back to the hotel and took a shower and brought my clothes to the laundry.  Clumsy, stupid me.  What a way to say goodbye to Peru.

            I am sad to be leaving this project, but I think that a week here was a really good amount of time and I am so glad that I decided to do the conservation project.  It was a great way to experience the jungle.  I enjoyed seeing both the animals in the rescue center and the wild animals, especially the wild monkeys who run around in huge packs in the trees around Taricaya.  And it was great to be able to enjoy myself while learning from all the specialists on the project that are part of the staff and being able to volunteer.  I also enjoyed spending time with the other volunteers, many of whom are vets, biologists, or science teachers.  Another fun part was that the cook had two kids, a 9 year old boy and a 2 year old girl, who loved playing with the volunteers.  Most of the other volunteers could not speak Spanish, so I had a good time talking to the kids and translating what they said for the other volunteers.

            And now it is almost time to head home!  It is bittersweet.  Hasta luego Peru.

Somewhere Over the Mountains

Written on Monday 12/17

            What a great last two days in Pisac!  On Friday I had a party in my class for my last day.  I brought in fruit to make fruit salad that the kids helped to make.  I also brought in cake and soda for an unhealthy treat.  I am not sure that the kids actually realized it was my last day - despite Vanessa and me telling them several times and them thanking me for my time with them.  It was fun to give the kids treats and just spend a stress free day with them.  I had brought a lot of stickers with me to Peru and never ended up using them, so I brought them all with me to school on Friday and gave them out to the kids.  The kids loved them!  And were in shock when I told them they could do whatever they wanted with them - even put them on their hands and forehead.  They were so happy.  When it was time to go, Vanessa told all the kids to give me a hug goodbye.  I was swarmed by my 18 students hugging and kissing me and telling me to take care of myself.  I couldn’t have asked for a better send off.

            Friday afternoon, I went on a trip to Awana Kancha, a llama and alpaca farm 20 minutes from Pisac, with my Spanish teacher, Shaarda, and another volunteer, Cristiana.  Because I took so many hours of Spanish, a trip with my teacher was included with my lessons, but we never had time to go, so I was glad when Shaarda asked me if Friday would work!  It was fun to see the alpacas and llamas, but especially fun because we spoke Spanish the entire time.  I was proud of myself and surprised by how much I was able to say, even if the grammar and vocabulary wasn’t the best.

            When we got back to Pisac, the three of us walked around the Pisac market and Cristiana and I bought earrings.  Then Shaarda left and Cristiana and I walked around Pisac for more than an hour.  It was a nice way to say goodbye to my village.

            On Saturday we decorated for Christmas.  Chaska and I put together three plastic Christmas trees - two white and one green.  All the branches were separated and put away in boxes, so we had to build the trees and then decorate them.  We took a break for lunch of Aji de Gallina (my special request) and homemade Chicha Morada.  Chicha Morada is the non fermented version of Chicha and is made by boiling purple corn, the peel of a pineapple, and cinnamon.  (By the way, I think Peru may have cured my cinnamon allergy?)  Usually we have Chicha Morada made from a powder, but the homemade version is much better.  At the end of lunch, Chaska’s father came to the house.  This is the first time I have met him - he is from Puno and I don’t think he comes here very often.  Chaska seemed surprised to see him.  After lunch Chaska, Norma, and I put together a nativity seen.  This seemed to consist of every plastic animal and doll that they own, complete with flamingos and three baby Jesuses.

            We had a two course dinner - the first was paneton and hot chocolate, as a special treat for my going away and the second was an egg, cheese, and vegetable fried pancake, fried potatoes, rice, and tea.  Chaska’s father Carlos, Judith, Chaska, Fortunata, Ricardo, and I were all there and it was nice to have a big family dinner for my last night.  It was also nice because Carlos asked questions about my time here which was a nice way to wrap things up.  My favorite was Fortunata’s explanation that I couldn’t speak any Spanish when I first got here but that I have improved a lot - my Spanish is not perfect, but I can really communicate.

            The house is now a Christmas wonderland.  All three trees have blinking lights and the big 7 foot white tree sits on a rotating stand that spins the tree while playing Christmas carols.  To say it is annoying is an understatement.  There is a huge nativity seen, tinsel everywhere, and bows and bells hanging from the doorways.

            On Saturday morning, I woke up early to finish packing.  It is a good thing I did not buy anything more than I did because my suitcase was bursting at the seams.  I joined the family for breakfast and then sat around with Judith and Ricardo for an hour talking about my time in Peru - where I had gotten to travel and what I need to come back to see.  Twenty minutes before I had to leave, Fortunata and Chaska came back from the market with fruit I had never seen before.  They made me try everything.

            When it was time to go, everyone helped me bring my stuff to the taxi and I gave everyone big hugs goodbye as I started tearing up.  When I got into the taxi I started really crying.  I had to pull it together because the taxi driver started speaking to me in Spanish, but I was a little surprised that I was crying so much and felt so sad to leave.  And now that I am in the jungle, I feel homesick for Pisac!

Pictures, the Zoo, and a Playground

            What a wonderful day!  The class trip to Cusco that I thought was going to be miserable and stressful, turned out to be really fun.  This was partly because 11 moms and 1 dad ended up coming at the last minute (or maybe I misunderstood and they were always going to come?).  I am glad they were there though because it made our job much easier and the principal never showed up, so it would have only been Vanessa and me on this trip if the parents hadn’t come.  So, Vanessa and I were really only in charge of five children.  It was fun to just have to watch over a few students because I could really pay attention to them without feeling stressed.

            Instead of leaving the school at 8:00 like planned, we left at 8:50 - not bad by Peruvian standards!  We crammed all 12 parents, 18 students, a younger brother, Vanessa, and me into a collectivo built for 18, which was nothing compared to on the way home when we got the same number of people into a collectivo built for 11!

            When we got to Cusco, we first went to the Koricancha, which is apparently the designated picture taking spot for school groups in Cusco.  It was amazing how many groups of students came to take a class picture there before heading on to their next destination.  Somehow we got all 18 5-year-olds to stand still and smile.  Then all of the parents wanted me to take individual pictures of them with their kids.  It was fun to be the photographer!

            Next we went to the small zoo at the public university.  I heard from another volunteer who went with his class to the zoo last week that a monkey bit one of his kid’s fingers.  When we got to the zoo I wasn’t surprised that this was possible.  Before going in, Vanessa warned the kids not to touch the animals or put their fingers in the cages.  Of course, the parents immediately started holding hands with the monkeys and feeding them bananas and encouraging their kids to do the same.  Good role models.  Thankfully no one got bitten, but at one point Emerson was poking around at a cage and somehow the monkey reached under the netting and started pulling Emerson’s hand with both of it’s hands.  The monkey looked angry and I got scared, so I pulled Emerson away quickly.  The other scary thing was that one of the mom’s was throwing leaves at an ostrich to try to get it to stand up.  Well, it did stand up and put its head right over the gate with a big squawk leaning towards us - luckily there was enough room to jump back, otherwise the ostrich would have been able to bite/peck someone!  Other than the dangers, though, it was fun to be in a zoo where you could stand so close to the cages.  There was a toucan, condors, parrots, various kinds of monkeys, a peacock, turtles, the ostrich, and various kinds of pigs.  It was fun to be at the zoo with 5-year-olds.  They loved it!

            After the zoo, we piled into three different taxis and drove to a playground.  This playground was amazing.  It kind of felt like a less advanced version of Disney land.  It even had a flying merry go round with Dumbo.  There were huge slides, small slides, swings, a hand pushed merry go round and Ferris wheel, seesaws, and anything else you could possibly imagine in a playground and more.  It was so fun to watch the kids run around with huge smiles on their faces.  Any child would love this playground, but it was especially great for these students whose tiny playground has not been available to them for the past two months because of construction being done at the school.

            We had a picnic lunch of chicken and French fries from Vanessa’s family’s restaurant and we bought all the kids ice cream.  Then it was time to go, but first the parents asked me if I would take their pictures with their kids in the park.  When I had finished my photographing duties, Vanessa announced that tomorrow would be my last day and we would be having a fiesta.  This induced another round of pictures, but this time I was included and Vanessa was the photographer.  Every mom wanted their picture with their child and me. I felt like a pop-star, with Vanessa calling out, “Who’s next?”

            At 2:00, we piled into a collectivo to head back home.  I sat with Rene’s mom on the front bench seat next to the driver with four kids piled on our laps.  All of the kids fell asleep on the way home.  It was a wonderful second to last day and I am looking forward to having a fiesta in my class tomorrow for my last day.  I am so sad to leave, but am glad that my time here is ending on a high note.