...Continued

Before recounting our experience at Pariacoto`s festival this past Thursday and Friday -- which deserves it`s own posting -- I will attempt to finish off some thoughts that were interrupted last time.

TRANSIT STRIKE
This past Monday, public transit vehicles -- taxis, combis (minivan buses), colectivos (fixed-route cars), and buses -- held a strike in response to a proposed tariff hike on their licenses and registration. The first impression was of quiet, much less noise reaching my room as I dressed to go running. As it got light, the non-working drivers set out lines of good-sized rocks across each intersection of the paved street at our corner, and growing crowds gathered to `police` the strike -- burning tires basically prepared to throw rocks at any car deigning to work. The ubiquitous motorcycle taxis were not actually a part of the strike, but there were few brave enough to test it. Emily witness some that still worked get parts ripped from them by groups of people either party to the strike or maybe just taking advantage of the opportunity to do damage. And, there were just a lot of people in the street, either walking to work or just taking the day off because they could not get to their jobs or classes. I walked with Emily and Nicole to work in the morning because there were no Motos to be found and it felt a bit dangerous. By evening the tension had settled (maybe post-lunch lethargy), and the drivers settled with the government in some form and we were spared the planned second day of the strike.

SOCCER
I was invited by three friends from my choir (Alex, Yuri and Juan Carlos) to go to an afternoon soccer game of the local team, Josè Galvez, playing a team from Chiclayo, to the north. Nicole, who was an avid soccer player in the US and has impressed a number of guys with her skill on a couple occasions (girls don`t play soccer here), also accepted the invitation to come along. I enjoyed the afternoon a lot, and Chimbote won 4-0 to boot. There were about 50 males there for each female, and most of the women were involved in selling food -- so it was actually a good thing that Nicole was there with four Peruvian guys so that she wouldn`t be harrassed as much. Groups of fans (from various neighborhoods, like fan clubs) argued a bit with each other (and with seated fans who complained about their view being blocked) over space to hang their banners from the chain link fence that surrounded the field, some even going over the barbed wire at the top to hang it in a better spot (guards on the field were fine with this, surprisingly). Our section was pretty low-key and the experience was quite pleasant, though the rush to get a taxi after the game was a bit chaotic (a parallel to the jam in stadium parking lots, though here people don`t generally own cars).

CHOIR
The game made me late for pre-mass choir rehearsal (I was actually the only one of us four who ended up going), but I still was in time to practice most of the songs and sing for mass, which I enjoy. The choir is an enthusiastic, high spirited group that I enjoy being a part of, but I struggle a bit with a couple areas. One, I still feel a bit of an outsider even with about four months of participation. People are friendly and welcoming, but apart from Alex and Yuri I haven`t gotten to know them real well. I also have some trouble getting a word in during choir meetings, both due to several folks that really like to talk and that they usually happen after our rehearsals (at about 11:00 pm), and I am not in my best Spanish form at that hour. I am considering ways to integrate more -- and will begin this coming Wednesday joining the musicians for their separate rehearsal, so as to learn some from them and gain some much-needed practice (and confidence) in playing guitar with a group. The second main lack in the choir that I feel (related to the first) is that it doesn`t feel like a faith community, which I think would enrich the experience for all of us. I have the idea of suggesting some scripture reflection (of readings for the Sundays that we will sing at mass) to encourage some deeper sharing within the group, which may help us connect better. One natural obstacle, common to many groups, is that the majority of members have been together for a number of years and welcoming new entries takes some effort.

MISSIONARY COURSE
The IWM director, Tere Mañon, has invited me to take a three-week course in Lima for foreign Catholic missionaries in the first part of June. It deals with the political, social, and religious realities of life in Peru and is offered by the Bartoleme de Las Casas Center -- which was founded my pioneering liberation-theologian Gustavo Gutierrez and is named after the original champion of indigenous rights in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. I have a little concern about leaving my involvements for three weeks, especially with a trip with Michi coming up in July, but I think I`ll do it because it seems a unique opportunity. The sisters here are sharing the cost with IWM.

That`s it for now -- have a great weekend!