Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was pretty laid back in my site. No Easter egg hunts (sad), I heard there was a religious movie about the beginning of the world shown at the church though... haha.

So, after a couple days free for vacation, I rushed back for a soccer game I was supposed to play in on Sunday and was sad to hear the other team had forgotten and wasn't going to show up. It has been postponed until this coming Sunday so wish me luck! Which brings me to my soccer life. The woman's soccer team has been seriously pulling itself together with me motivating them to play in games. Most evenings I go on a hunt for the lady players and young boys (who are not old enough yet to play with the big boys) and we play together until it is too dark to see. One night at 8:30pm I got a text from one of the players telling me to come out to play, which surprised me because it was so late. But when I went outside I realized the moon was so bright that it was clear enough to see the players and the ball so we played a good hour of night soccer and it was fantastic! In terms of games, we've had one recently that was amazing! Unfrotunately, we lost, but we played really well and it was an adventure getting there as usual. We piled into a truck and took the bumpy ride full of family and friends to a town 30 minutes away. The field was much better and we actually were going to play the same team as last time. There was a big, intimidating crowd like last time but this time I was expecting it and decided to enjoy it. I played really well, almost scoring several times to the joy of my town fans and even took two girls down, which has been everyone's favorite story since. The other team however, was not so nice and fun loving and kept swearing (although I didn't know that until afterwards when my teammates told me they were swearing) and insulting us. One "insult" was directed right at me when I fell trying to save a ball from going out and a girl from the other team looked right at me and said "what did you eat for lunch today? Potatoes??" in a mocking voice. I wanted to start cracking up because I thought of COURSE I ate potatoes for lunch, everyone in Peru eats potatoes for every meal! But I didn't understand that what she was trying to say, which is apparently that you kick badly if you eat potatoes.....? Comical. After the game, one of the girls from the other team actually came up to me and invited me to play in a big game with them against a team from the capital city. I gave her my number to talk about it later because the response from my teammates and family friends was not positive... I think they would think of me as a traitor if I played with this "brutish" girls as they call them. I don't know if I'm going to play with them yet, although it sounds like a really fun opportunity!

Which brings me to food. A friend recently sent me another list of good questions about food and eating here in Peru that I thought I would share with all of you.

What are the eating habits like, table manners etc? I mean, do they eat with their hands, which hand do they touch food with, how do they chew (mouths open/closed)?
Table manners are VERY different in my house/town. I wont generalize for the whole country because the whole country is not small town and northern. So, in my town, first of all, we ALWAYS eat with spoons. Spoons for every meal for every kind of thing. I have learned that spoons are wonderful tools that I did not appreciate to the fullest in the US. haha. Also, touching your food with your hands is not only acceptable but often necessary. Since we don't have forks or knives, getting the meat off the bone in most cases involves pulling at it with your fingers and teeth. With fish, which we eat a lot of, it is full of bones every time and I spend a good amount of time picking out the little bones with me fingers which I think is amusing to my host siblings who have mastered the skill of spitting them artfully out, usually on the floor. Yes, spitting or throwing food scraps is totally acceptable because the floor is dirt and some animal, dog, chicken, pig, etc will eventually get to it.

Does all the meat have bones in it, where do they put the bones when they are finished chewing the meat off?
Yes. ALL the meat has bones in it. Sometimes more bone then meat. Disposing of them is never a problem because to dog will take them away, even eat whole bones if they can manage to break them with their teeth. It's pretty impressive.

Do they eat all parts of the animal?
I think the answer to this is generally yes. I have seen animal killings and skinnings and I know they use almost everything there is including feet, heads, eyes, etc. Things that are almost inedible will be put in soups for flavoring. Organs and organ sacks are sometimes served to me (to my dismay) and chicken feet are actually very common in Peruvian soups. I don't or cant eat chicken feet, I haven't seen the appeal in it. I've been lucky and haven't gotten anything too strange but I have learned that I do NOT like goat organ sack or liver. I have gotten on several occasions fish heads, eye balls and all, and have learned by observing my siblings that they use the heads as almost a makeshift spoon as well. I do know other volunteers that have eaten goat balls.... yes, testicles. Oh, and cow hearts are actually a specialty here sold on a stick called anticucho. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure I'll have to eventually!

Is the food kind like ours where each dish has different kinds of food or is a big kind of feast like thing like at your parents house, where everyone shares everything?
This was actually the hardest and weirdest thing for me to get used to. Everyone gets the same thing for sure, but the way it works is that the Mom, or whoever is cooking/serving, makes everyone's plate for them. No one ever serves themselves, nor is there usually communal food on the table. We are all served specifically, men and special people first (I'm included in this category), children next, and the Mom or server last. This usually means that the first people get the best pieces of meat or the most of whatever it is we are having and the kids end up with very little, mostly rice. The only things that are ever shared are onion or onion and tomatoes "salads" that are put in the table for people to scoop onto their rice. I have never felt comfortable about being given the choice servings, but I am also so grateful to be given good food when I am hungry.

So those are my answers to questions from friends for the day. I love getting questions like this so if anyone has anymore, please send them along! They make me think more about day to day life and the funny little things I get up to.

I miss you all, I hope you had a great Easter weekend. Write to me whenever you can!