The second year begins, first ever real-time post

First of all, the municipality got internet, fast internet, which means I have ridiculously convenient access to the world a mere block from my adobe, non-indoor plumbed house. Every single other post in this blog has been pre-written, given me absurdly long to elaborate my puns, etc. Until now. A new age, indeed.

Second, my one-year anniversary in Santo Domingo was yesterday. A year ago yesterday, I was unloading my new mattress from the regional coordinator's car, playing volleyball with a neighbor-girl named Elsa, and feeling generally overwhelmed. Yesterday, to come full circle, Elsa dropped off her cat at my house for a fun, rat-killing sleepover. Before I left for Thanksgiving vacation, I noticed suspiciously rodent-y traits in my kitchen (popcorn spread all over the shelves with the inside kernel missing, etc.) but I assumed it was just a cute little mouse, which I could deal with. Within a couple hours of being back, though, I realized (with much screaming) that it was in fact a large rat. As in, I've seen smaller squirrels. (Not on the Michigan campus, where the squirrels more resemble overfed baby bears, but in life generally.) I immediately decided that the best course of action was to run up and down my street begging my neighbors for their cats. One neighbor told me their cat was too pregnant. Another told me theirs was too small. I felt like some sort of hellish Goldilocks. After setting a trap that was probably also too small for this job, I found myself unable to actually sleep in my infested apartment, and showed up to Charo's house, where she gave me the bed of the Volunteer I replaced. The next night, after a repeat appearance of the rat, I more or less demanded the neighbor's cat despite their absence, and let everyone on the street know that if the cat were to show up, that it was to go to my house. The cat was cute and very cuddly, but sort of dumb and drooly. I did not know cats could drool until last night. She did not kill the rat but did knock over my sink water and barf twice all over my floor. Uncool, but the rat didn't seem to eat any of my food, so...cool. I'll keep you posted.

I also marked my one-year anniversary at site by throwing a hissy fit at a high school teacher for burning an entire field of grass in the middle of the town. He responded by saying it was impossible that they could ever compost the grass (even though my project has entirely adequate compost piles a ten-minute walk from where he was burning), and that it was pretty silly that I would come yell at him for endangering the respiratory systems of an entire street when I come from the United States, where we have nuclear waste and other "real" environmental problems. I ran to Teo's house in tears after this interaction, and she gave me the dirt on the teacher. This is what I love about a small town: if you are ever upset with someone, you can always find someone to tell you all the horrible things that guy has ever done. "This teacher made me really upset today." "Yeah, he's been reported to the school district for an unhealthy interest in teenage girls." Or, "I'm sort of mad at my friend." "Yeah, he had to leave Lima because he was evading taxes." Sure, gossip is generally destructive and doesn't help anyone, but it can make you feel really good at the time. To show the up-and-down nature of Peace Corps, that very night a guy from Rotary Club showed up to my door (literally), and offered to present the trash project to seek additional funding. Sometimes, it's just that easy.

Thanksgiving in Cajamarca was awesome, in other news. Cheese, low-security zoos with cute Andean anteojo bears, hot springs, beautiful mountain views? Go there. It was incredible. Thanksgiving involved no turkey, but it did involve an amazing fusion restaurant, where I ate both trout and duck. As part of my resolutions for next year, here are some pictures:

OMG bears

Andrew and I at Cumbe Mayo

Hey look, rocks.

This is what Cajamarca looks like.

So my resolutions for year 2 are as follows:

1. Kick more ass

2. Do cooler stuff with my spare time

3. Be less oblivious to what goes on in my town

4. Be less angry with Peru absurdities

5. Get stuff DONE

6. Add more visual interest to this blog

And that's about it.