The People / La gente

Meet my family! Oscar, Loida, Deysi, Soledad and Jon Paol.

• Oscar is a mecanico in Lima. The hours are long — he works Monday through Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and picks up odd jobs on Sundays — but he's energetic and loves a good conversation. He's also, apparently, a fantastic dancer and has promised me that he'll teach me how to Cumbia and Salsa for my birthday.
• Loida is an ama de casa (house wife) full-time, but she also is an entrepreneur, selling household items and clothes from catalogs on the side. She's very active in the community and serves as the secretary on the neighborhood Junta (more a less the board of directors). But best of all, she is super sweet and doesn't over-feed me!
• Deysi is a nurse who just finished a year-long practical work program in the Selva (jungle). She arrived in Lima the same day I did and has just been settling back in with her family and friends. While in the Selva, she met and fell completely in love with Manuel, an engineering student in Iquitos. I don't know what I would have done without her my first few days here. She always is happy to come along with me if I need to find something I didn't bring (like a towel--eek) or talk to me about my technical training for PC's health program or just life in general.
• Soledad is 16 and finishing up her last year in high school. She'll graduate right after I leave in December and wants to go to the University of Lima next year. It's a really important dream to her. She's very studious and focused. But, at the same time, she's 16 and loves music and dancing and regatón. She also fills me in on what's going on during the dramatic, fast-talking points of the Dáme Chocolate, the greatest Latin American soap opera ever.
• Jon Paol (aka JP) is 9 and ADORABLE. He and I get along really well and is probably the best Peruvian friend I've made so far. Every night we read a few pages of Harry Potter y La Cámara Secreta out loud. It's good pronunciation practice for me, and he seems to get a lot of pleasure out of correcting me. :) With the exception that he lives in Peru, he is nearly exactly like every 9-year-old in America: he loves Cartoon Network, Spiderman, Power Rangers and running around like a madman. On my second day in the house, he fell and hurt himself pretty severely. He was in the hospital for a few days and now can't run around. He's going a little stir-crazy. I feel terrible for him, but he's handling it really well.