tiny yellow underwear

New Year's eve is coming and one of the most important Peruvian traditions is to wear a yellow underwear on that night. There is one important rule though: it has to be a gift. One cannot go and buy a yellow underwear for oneself, the underwear has to be given by someone else for free with the best intentions. What I normally do is to go out with a friend and buy her nice yellow underwear and she buys me the same.

The day after Xmas, the streets of Lima are full with vendors selling all kind of yellow stuff: underwear, balloons, hats, etc. Supposedly yellow is the color for having good luck, money, etc, on the next year.

Other traditions that one has to do at midnight: burn a doll that represents the old year (and with it burning all the bad things that happened to you), run around the block with a suitcase (to travel), eat 12 grapes under a table (for money), throw 13 coins over your shoulder (too see how much money you are going to have) and everything while wearing your yellow thong.

And, of course, one has to think about your new year's ressolutions. I still don't have mines. I only know what I am greatful about: coming back home; my friends here and my friends all over the place; NYC and all the memories; my family; the new doors that are opening for me; my new friends here and the new friends I met in Canada; closures; my NYC "family" that I miss deeply; and, of course, my ladybugs.

HAPPY 2007!!!

with a little help from my town

I went out last night to a friend's place and my bug was acting weird. I think he likes to protect me because I made it back home safely. But this morning his battery died and I discovered that the municipality of my town (Miraflores) has an emergency system for vehicles for freeeeee!!! So, the truck came, helped me and I could turn my car on. The image was so funny that I had to take a picture and blog it!!!

And that also reassured me of what I already knew: I love my town of Miraflores!!!! :) and having a car is like having a teenage son.... just problems and more problems!!! hahahahahaha.

A whole different bug world

I love my bug, although, the poor thing has been parked outside my house sick, for more than a month. I saw two different mechanics and they said that I had been scammed, that I need to put more money into the bug that the money the bug cost me!!!

But then I met a guy from the "Peruvian VW bug club" and I discovered that there is a whole different bug world out there. He recommended me a mechanic.

First of all... there are mechanics specialized in bugs. Other mechanics just freak out when they see a bug; but these don't. Alexander is now my mechanic. He is a bug specialist and he says that my car is ok. “It only has minor problems” he said. Another thing about bugs here is that it is extremely cheap to fix them (if you take them to the specialists), for instance, a piece can cost you as low as less than 2 bucks. No kidding.

Second of all, the club looks like fun. They have meetings, trips and exchange tips about bugs. There was one guy with Alex when he came to see my car and he said that he was about to give up his bug because, as I did, he thought his bug was useless and that he had been scammed. And then he met Alex. Now he loves his bug and doesn’t want to sell it.

I may not want to sell mine either after Alex finishes fixing it. And I may join the Peruvian VW bug club with my green 1971 VW bug!!!!

Picture of a bug taken from www.sebeetles.com/lovebug.htm

End of Classes

So, it is the end of the year in Peru (calendar and academic) and we are getting ready for the summer and its three month break!!! The bad part... I won't see my students. I always get attached to my students. They are the best part of being a professor. Seriously. I miss my students at Ramapo and will miss my students at San Marcos. Although at San Marcos, I will teach again. And Ramapo was a great two year experience.

These two pictures are from the party we had at my place yesterday (something I could have never done at Ramapo since I lived faaaar away from Mahwah, or I should say, since Mahwah is sooo far away from Manhattan!!). We decided to have the last class at my house and then have drinks and music to celebrate the end of the year. So, these are my students from the MA program on gender, sexuality and public policies at San Marcos (the oldest university in America). I had a co-teacher. She was Gina Vargas (the red head woman), the founder of the feminist movement here in Peru (a real honor to teach with her). We have taught a course at San Marcos (I did most of the classes since she is travelling all over the world) and a course in Huancayo, a city 6 hrs away in the Andes from Lima (where I taught 2 courses at their Diploma on Gender and Human Rights). The students we had at San Marcos were for credit and the majority auditing students. The last ones were young and from the undergrad program. You will notice in the pics, who are grad students (first pix) and who undergrads (second pix). Here you can only see 6, but we had more. And we had fun!

the wonders of my land

I have been looking for pictures from my country for a thing that may give me a job and since I just love the pictures I found: I like to share them with you.

You can see here all the variety of landscape we have: jungle, beach, dunes, mountains. Funny stuff one can do. Needless to say, I love my country.

the Missing Children from Georgia

These children are dancing at a Mall in Lima. They are 31 boys and girls that came here three months ago to perform around the country. They should have gone back home to Georgia (the ex-Soviet-Union-country) last week but instead they were dancing yesterday at the food court at the Jockey Plaza Mall in Lima asking for money to the improvised audience. The reason? The Spanish embassy did not want to give them transit visas. Yes. These children lost their flights and now need money to try to get transit visas at the Dutch embassy, pay the fines and go back home. The excuse the Spanish embassy gave? They thought they were children traffickers or terrorists. A...ha.

Does it make me mad? It does indeed. It is so upsetting to see how the so called "first world" treats us. To live it myself and to see these kids being treated as a threat to Spain. I can only imagine the fear of the parents in Georgia, the kids (stuck in a foreign country with a language they do not understand) and their professors.

According to the news the children of Shavnavada (the name of the group), might be able to travel today or tomorrow if the Dutch embassy gives them the transit visa.

When would this type of things stop???

I will always miss you

No matter how long have you been gone for
I will always miss you
Have I told you that?
Have I told you that I miss you deeply?
I still wait for your laugh and your sarcastic comments
I still wait for your crazy looks and your childish jokes
Have I told you that I loved you?
I still do
Deeply
Have I told you about this emptiness inside of me?
Have I told you how much it hurts?
It does hurt, it hurts a lot
And I do not know what to do with the pain.
Eight years now and the pain is still there
Time heals everything... but time is no friend of mine now
Time does not help
I am still empty when I think of you, I am still mad
And I still love you, deeply, truly