I woke up around 6 am sick. This was my first time being sick in Perú (I am honestly surprised). I thought I would be a lot sicker here because of different germs and the fact that I am living in a city of 10 million. However, this happened to be my first time sick here, and I experienced the concerned Peruvian mom.
After waking up sick and telling my host sister there was no way I was going to school, I went back to bed to try and sleep. This failed miserably, as soon as I played back into bed my host mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and sister all burst into the room and started asking me about my symptoms. I had no idea what to tell them as I knew none of the words that would tell them the current struggles of my body. So instead I just told them I wanted to sleep and I was sick. My aunt and mother began taking up charades to try and get me to tell them what was wrong. I was able to tell them my stomach hurt, and after that, they tried to get me to drink tea. However, after just having emptied my the contents of my body, the last thing I wanted to do was drink something. So instead I convinced them to let me sleep.
I ended up sleeping and waking up when my host mom came in to check on me. She kept trying to get me to eat and drink, but since not all of my symptoms from the morning had disappeared, I was not going to eat anything. This only made her more worried. She began to come into my room every 2 hours and ask me to eat and tell me she was very worried. At one point, she called my Tia (and host aunt of my friend Jeanne) to try and convince me to eat. Instead I just told her I had talked to my mom in the U.S. and had taken some pills. I thought this was enough to convince my host mom, but I was wrong.
When my Tia got home (the Tia that lives in my house), she came into my room and told me my friend Jeanne was on the phone. I was super confused, but she wanted me to talk to Jeanne and tell her how I was. I explained my symptoms to Jeanne who then explained them to my Tia Carmen, who then explained them to my Tia Nellie. I was so confused why everyone was so worried. In the U.S. when I am sick, I usually just avoid food and wait it out. Apparently that is not how we deal with a stomach flu here. Eventually, I convinced everyone that I wasn't dying. I ate some peanut butter crackers later that night when I was feeling better, and survived the night.
September 7, 2017
I woke up late on the 7th (go figure) and rushed to quickly get around. I had convinced my host mother that I wanted to go volunteer instead of going to school (easier than I thought). So I rushed around, ate half a thing of bread Mamita (Grandma) wasn't letting me leave the house without eating, and got into the car with Renato to head to San Borja (different district of Lima).
After getting there, I got out of the car and headed for the tent. I knew I would be raising money for Cancer patients that couldn't afford it, but I didn't know how we were doing that. However, after kissing everyone hello and filling out a form with my name, I received a little shirt thing to put over my clothes that told people what I was doing. I also received a can to have people put money in.
After getting my can, I headed over to a street off the side of the tent. I talked with the other exchange student Axelle, who told me a simplified version of what I was supposed to say. So instead of memorizing the paragraph I was very quickly taught, I began asking people "Quieres colaborar?" (Do you want to collaborate/contribute). This phrase honestly worked pretty well for me, although it wasn't necessarily the easiest thing to say over and over again. However, after Axelle and I got into sync, I quickly filled up my can. The best way to get grumpy taxi drivers to give you money for cancer is to smile very wide and bat your eyelashes a bit. This also works for just about any Peruvian, they can't resist the smile of a Gringa. While using your looks to lure the money from Peruvians doesn't necessarily sound like a moral thing to do, you do what you gotta do to help people with cancer (except you ignore the men that call you Mamisita, just take their money and walk away quickly).
After filling up my tin, I got another one and started working a different street. This honestly didn't work that well, as by now so many volunteers had shown up that most of the cars had already donated. So I ended up walking quite a distance away with two other girls so we could make some more money. This ended up a major success and as soon as our cans filled up (there was a lot of smiles and eyelash batting on this street), Courtney (American) and I headed back to the tent to give them our full tins. After that Courtney and I headed out for lunch.
We ended up at KFC (I know, a good option after being sick the previous day) and after we struggled to order (Courtney more than me), we sat down. We just caught up and told random stories of our host families. After lunch, I ordered Courtney another drink (and the employee asked where we were from). We then headed back to the tent where the other students were on break. Tiia and Jeanne joined us (school had gotten out). We talked for a bit longer before we all started working the streets again. Courtney and I taught Jeanne and Tiia what to say before heading back to work our street. Eventually time was up and our cans were full, so we headed back to the tent for the final time.
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| Courtney and I :) |
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| The tent/meetup spot |
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| Letters of the District (these are in every district so you know where you are). |
Before working the streets of Lima for money, I always thought how I would never want to be the person that had to walk in between cars to sell things as a job. However, working all day to collect money for cancer proved that fact to me. Having to deal with men that find you too attractive and rude drivers are not something I would ever want anyone to do. Yet, people here do that every day to earn money. I had so much fun volunteering, and I am very thankful that I got to work the streets of Lima for the day, it taught me how some people live. Thank you Rotary!
