Eating the duck...

One of the constants in life here is unpredictablity and the knowledge that you are not in control! As another volunteer said today, "I realize that control is an illusion but I´d like a little more of it!"

My host family invited me to have lunch with the extended family in Lima on Sunday and I accepted the invitation. So Saturday, I asked what time we were leaving for Lima and learned it was 7AM. OK, 7AM I´ll be ready. What time will we get home? Well around 9PM... By now I was alarmed and renegotiated the getting home time so that in the end, I got home at 5PM.

So Sunday comes around and at 6:30 a knock on my door announced it was time to leave. When I came out of my room, my host parents were struggling to get the mother duck (think large white duck) into a plastic bag. There was a lot of flapping, quacking and plastic rattling. Finally the duck was encased up to the neck in two plastic bags and we headed off to Lima. What was my first clue that we were going to have duck for dinner?

When we got to Lima, I realized I was going to spend a very long day in a small room with the TV blaring, lots of kids playing and the adults talking over the noise. About an hour later, we ate tamales and tea. I was so tired that I asked for a place to nap and slept for 2 hours in someone´s tiny bedroom. When I got up, my host mom and I went to a huge, crowded market and I ate some really delicious rice pudding at a small stand after passing up on other options that had stomach problems written all them.

So somewhere in the early afternoon, we ate the duck along with a few vegetables, potatoes and the usual mountain of rice. I left much of the rice on my plate explaining that I´m just not a good Peruvian! All this washed down with Coca Cola or Inca Cola which is a caffeine free version of Mountain Dew. The baby ducklings in the back yard are now orphans.

And yes after several more hours of hanging out, I got a ride home in time to do homework. You never quite know how anything will happen here but I always know that I´ll be served a mountain of food with all eyes on the gringa to see if she likes it and will eat it all. I eat almost anything but draw the line at stuffing myself.

And today I learned that I´ve advanced another level in Spanish much to my surprise. We have a very hectic final week, swear in formally on Friday and ship out Saturday afternoon for 2 years in new sites. I´m tired and rather intimidated by what lies ahead but also feeling a sound sense of accomplishment for getting through this phase!

Cheers
Sara