Sitting in a tiny internet cafe in Yucay, in the Sacred Valley, I am happy I came to Peru, happy the Mayor of the 5 communities in enthusiastic about having volunteers and about setting up a project for women to sell Andean foods to tourists, happy because I am surrounded by beautiful mountains and wonderful people. It's exactly the opposite from what you'd expect: people in the mountains are very friendly, greet me as I walk in the streets, they ask me about what I'm doing here and want to be part of the project. In the jungle when i say hi they simply stare, when I talk about the project they say ok I'll think about it. I am generalising of course, but the different nature of the mountain vs. jungle people is not my personal opinion, or at least it is shared by many Peruvians.
Since I arrived I've been thinking about the amazing women I've lived with during my time in Latin America, and about my friendship with them and with their maids. Karla, my Nica host mom, is an incredibly strong and intelligent woman, who was supporting 3 kids alone, and while the entire country is going to hell is building a huge extension to her house. Mercedes, her maid and my best friend in Nicaragua, is now pregnant and living in Costa Rica illegally, with her husband who is working in a flower plantation.
Maricarmen is another brilliant woman, who was lucky enough to marry a man who coud finance her project, and now is managing a travel agency, an NGO, and a number of construction projects and pieces of land. Her maid in Cusco, Anna, lived in Italy for 3 years illegally, working as a maid, and then came back out of desperation for her son she'd left here. With the money she'd earned there she built her house here, where she lives now with her mom, her husband, her son, and a daughter they had after she came back. Maria's maid in Pilcopata, Alicia, ran away from her home in Paucartambo (3 hours from Pilco during the dry season) after her brother beat her up for the last time, and escaped to Pilcopata. She was 17 and had barely been out of her house and never out of her parents' sight. She went to Pilco with a friend, began to work in the fields (as she'd been doing her whole life) and now has two daughters of 7 and 5.
I need to go meet my hosts for the night, they are going to kill and roast a cuy for me tonight! (cuy=cavia peruviana). But a note about my real reason for coming to Peru, as Stefano suggests--it's not worth it: coca leaves taste disgusting! I tried to chew a few the other day and I had to spit them out immediately...plus they make your mouth numb! Also, I heard rumors about leaf-smuggling aborad from a community near the ones where we work. Apparently most men in the area have been offered multiple times to carry leaves, and when I asked how much they would get paid for it I got a vague answer of--depends on what you do. Scary. Watch "Maria llena de gracia" (Maria full of grade), it's one of my favorite movies, about smuggling cocaine into the US.
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Great women, as usual. And you only see the men... Probably women are always too busy building up the world to come out and be seen.
Some days ago M Claudia was telling me that she accompanied her son to Malpensa for his semester abroad and there were about 300 people queueing up at the security, mostly business people: about 250 were men, 50 women. In the group of students there were 6 girls and 3 boys (more boys than usual, I think, according to what I remember when you three went away). So she wondered where women finish between 17 and 50. Working hard I guess, behind the stage.
Two days ago I was pondering about my career and on what I expected when I was young and I didn't get; like in the book Il deserto dei Tartari you wait and wait for your whole life until you die and nothing has happened; and I told Dad who answered: what did you expect? you're a woman
Well, I do hope it will be a different world for you (it seemed to be in the 70s, so things can really change) and you'll get what you certainly deserve. And I do hope even more that your brothers will be a different kind of man, able to appreciate and value people independently of race, religion and, also and more, sex...
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