Reunion in Lima

So I finally got to go back to Lima...it was great. It was more like a vacation than work though, which made it even harder to go back to site. It was definately filled with excitement from the get go!

My artisan and I arrived at the bus station in Piura 2 hours early, so i asked if the bus station could store our boxes that had our products in it for the fair behind their desk. And they were said of course and asked me what bus I was on. Because of this, I thought they were going to automatically place our boxes on our same bus...yea it didnt quite work out like this. We arrive in Lima 15 hours later, Thursday morning, and our boxes are not on the bus. This is a problem. The artisan fair was at the United States Embassy which has a million rules on security. For the fair, they needed ALL the products that were being sold, at the Peace Corp Headquarters in Lima by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. Well I didnt have my products, and they would not be able to make it until the following morning because there were no other buses that ran from Piura to Lima. So all we could do was wait. I had no clue if the Embassy was going to let us bring our products in or not. And we had worked really hard the the week before getting everything ready. It would really suck if they wouldnt let us in.

The following morning we leave our Hostel at 8:00 a.m. and head to the bus station. Everyone else left at 7:30 and were already at the Embassy setting things up. The fair opened their doors at 9:00 and we were hoping to get there as soon as possible. Well here we are waiting, at the bus station for 2 hours for the bus to arrive. There are two buses that come from Piura and on the first bus there were none of our products. Oh jeez, what if they dont make it? So we wait for the second, hoping and praying they are on there. And sure enough, they are the last boxes off the bus. Thank goodness! One step down, one to go. We still had to see if the Embassy would even let us in.

At 11:00 a.m. we head to the Embassy with some Peace Corps workers and I felt really important. The first day at the Embassy, we had to wait in this long line in the front of the building to get in and go through the metal detectors, you know they drill. But you arent allowed to have liquids, cameras, or cell phones with cameras in the Embassy, among other things. Well the second day, we were riding in the back way with official people of the Embassy. Going around the back way was a little different. First our car pulled into this gated area and they made us shut off the engine. Then they ran a metal detector all over and around the car and also used mirrors to check under the car. Then they lifted the hood and checked under it, and followed with checking the IDs of everyone in the car. That was fun. But we finally got in to the fair and they let all of our products in so we were happy! Even though we were 3 hours behind everyone else!

We sold 5 products, S/. 42 worth. I am not sure if this is real good or not. It was my first fair and my aritsans. And we were not selling to people we would normally be selling too. We were selling to wealthy Americans who worked at the Embassy. With that said, when selling at our next fair, we probably wont sell as good because it is going to be to the lower classes of the Peruvian people.

We also got to go see our old host families while in Lima. That felt great! It was like coming home after we´d been gone for so long. My mom cried when she saw me. It was so sweet! I also got to see the other host families of the volunteers who I´d spend a good amount of time with also. It is so funny because they have shrines of us volunteers in their houses. There are walls covered in Pictures of us. We were their first group of volunteers which was difficult for us because they did not know how to treat us, but also good because there is always something special about those firsts. My mom didnt want me to leave, but I promised I would come back whenever I was near Lima.

Other great things about the trip: I had Mcdonalds, Twice. I was able to be ¨Americanized¨ by the Starbucks, big shopping malls, and by the other American tourist. I was out of site where my every move wasnt being watched by everyone. There were a million different types of ppl from all over the world! I need that interaction sometimes. I got to hang out with and catch up with all of my fellow PCV´s :-)