Saturday in Trujillo

This morning didn’t start with roommates jumping on me, which is not a bad thing. I got ready and had breakfast before 9:30 so our group could go out to Alto Trujillo, the place where our bodega is planning on going. Doug, the intern, took us up there. It is fairly complicated, so he caught us a taxi and explained where we were going. The driver said that was a weird place to go, but he complied. It was a 20-30 minute ride, up to the outskirts of Trujillo to a place where the driver said they would rob from him, let along a group of gringos. The road was paved most of the way, but eventually we started driving on sand roads (not dirt because its very deserty here, so we are surrounded by sand). We wound our way through barrios, where the houses got less and less complicated. By the time we got out there, the houses brick walls with dirt floors and a simple corrugated tin roof. The most expensive part of the houses was probably the bars on the windows.

We had our driver drop us off at a local market, Mercado Jesus. We walked around the shops, peering in to see the products, watch the people, and speak with some of the owners. It was strange for us (probably not Nate, who served his mission in Colombia) to see markets so open and unsanitary, but it was probably weirder for them to see gringos in their market.

We paid the taxi to wait for us and to take us back when we were finished. He expertly trucked us up a steep hill to get us closer to the street of the bodega, which was just a 10 minute walk from the market. Doug gave us a tour of the bodegas, showing us the many bodegas that are just a short distance from his place. We purchased some cookies and Inca Kola from the tiendas to not waste their time, and told them we were students doing a project to make them feel important. They opened up with very useful information, not that we want to use it against them, but just to have a benchmark for the market.

After our short interviews, we found our driver to taxi us back to the hotel. I never felt uncomfortable out there, but it is definitely not a place where many tourists go. We got back to the hotel only to leave again with Jaqueline, Alena’s partner who works with the SEED program and DanPer. She is very pregnant; she will have a baby girl in August. Anyway, we joined up with another group whose project is a bodega to visit a successful bodega that has had two loans from the SEED program. The lady who owns the bodega was very nice and welcoming, although she showed up right as we were about to leave. We asked the attendant, who was the daughter of the owner, several questions about the bodega that related to our projects. Their bodega was very different from our bodega’s plans: the location was better, the competition scene was better, the place seemed better. An example of a good bodega plan was exactly what we needed to see.

The group split up on the way home. Jacqueline, Nate, and I had to make a stop at another previous loan that was near by. I’m not quite sure why, but it was Jacqueline’s business. We had heard about this loan, and it hasn’t been good things. It was a livestock loan, meaning they got a loan to purchase cattle to start into the cattle industry. The loan has been a learning loan, meaning that the program will probably never fund a livestock business again. They have had many problems with payback of the loan and growth of the farm. They are confined within four walls, large enough for a couple cows, but not large enough for a growing cattle business and a house for the people.

When we got back to the hotel, we were desperate for lunch, so we walked down to a restaurant that Doug recommended. I liked the place, especially because it was a fairly cheap meal. After lunch, we came back to the hotel and debriefed with each other about what we learned. We also spoke with our advisors about our project and asked their advice as well.

I ended up falling asleep for a bit; I was zonked out until Alex came in our room, and I am glad he did or else I would have been out the whole night. I was warned of dinner later, and I don’t remember what we did between that and dinner, but I don’t think there was much time. Anyway, for dinner, we were invited to have tres leches by the three amigos (they are they guys who fund the SEED program through the non-profit Wasatch Social Ventures: Blake, Tim, and Scott). There were some of us who had decided to wait for others to get back from their long day, so we had desert before we had dinner. After a delicious slice, we walked just down the road to this quaint place for dinner. They had a dinner special for S/. 11, and I was all about that, especially with how much food has been costing. We had a great meal; the food was pretty good, but I just love talking with everybody. The table next to us left pretty quickly when we arrived; we are just kind of loud and Americans.

The girls decided to have a girls’ night, so I hung out in Brennan and Cooper’s room. The Fast and The Furious was on, so we watched the end of the old show. We chatted for a bit, then I decided it was time for sleep.

At night, I usually listen to music as I go to bed. On the trip, I haven’t been able to do it because usually people do not like my music or do not like noise as they go to bed. I usually listen to Sunday music Saturday night, and it sets the tone for the Sabbath. I did not turn on my music, and the Sabbath’s out here have not been anything special. I am looking forward to when I can go back to my traditions, but I am very grateful that right now I am where I am.