The Last Week - An Update from Home

I'm home from Peru! I got in on Sunday evening after spending my last week in Cusco. We ended up getting to make the 2 day trip to Puno to see Lake Titicaca last weekend, and it was really cool!

I didn't post last week due to some internet problems, but after the 2 day bus ride from Piura to Cusco, we made use of our last weekend in Peru by going to Puno to see Lake Titicaca. It was another overnight bus ride (so three in a row!), but well worth the trip. We were able to go to Uros, which are floating islands. They are islands that were build on the lake and made out of a straw/reed type substance. People supposedly live on them, but I think it is primarily a tourist trap. It was still very cool to see though.

Then we continued on and stayed the night on an island. They don't have any hostels or hotels, so we stayed with a family. There was no running water or electricity but it was a gorgeous island and our family was very nice.

We came back to Cusco the next day and started out last week of work. Unfortunately, the survey team, whom we had hoped would be able to help us, was spread out in rural areas all over Cusco doing field work. We therefore, had very little success in getting lenders in our last week. Instead, we did a few borrower interviews, outlined our final report, and enjoyed our last week in Peru. We did some souvenir shopping, spent some time in the Sacred Valley, and I finally tried cuy (guinea pig). I'm not sure why cuy is so popular there. It wasn't very tasty, it was served in its complete form (you could see the head!), and its even expensive by peruvian food standards...overall, an experince, but not one I ever need to repeat again.

Then on Sunday, I packed up all of my things and headed home! This week I'll be writing my final report, enjoying the rest of my summer, and getting ready to go back to school. I can't believe how fast my time in Peru flew by, but I had an amazing trip and hope I'll be able to go back again!

feliz fiestas patrias!

Today is independence day in peru! Everyone is out playing futbol with their family and friends...makes me sad i missed the 4th of July, bbq's, and fireworks!

We're heading back to Cusco tonight. We've decided that we've utilized all of our contacts here, and it's time to head back to Cusco. We got 21 interviews total in Piura! It was awesome. We were so successful because we had contacts that knew moneylenders. Because we were put in touch with lenders by people they trusted, they were more willing to do the interviews. We're hoping to use the IPA survey team that is now working in Cusco to use a similar strategy for our last week there!

To get back to Cusco, its a 15 hour bus ride tonight to Lima. We then have a 20 hour bus ride tomorrow from Lima to Cusco. It's going to be a long 2 days, but I'm excited to go back to Cusco for the last week here! (We may try to squeeze in a 2 day trip to Puno to see Lake Titicaca...we'll see if we can make it happen!)

Things I'll miss about Piura:
- CEVICHE! and all of the other delicious, cheap, and abundant seafood options
- having a gym a 1/2 block from my hostel and not being looked at like I'm CRAZY when I go running
- sea level oxygen levels...i'm going to miss being able to breath, especially when working out
- everyone we've met here, they've been so hospitable and welcoming and helpful!!

Moneylenders, ceviche, and running.

I'd like to start this post off with a shout out to Laura Hagen. She forced me to write this, so I figured she should get some credit.

Ok, what have I been up to lately. Moneylender interviews, eating ceviche, and working out. Literally all I do. Its been fun though. I've been keeping really busy and feel as though I have a great sense of purpose. I've also recently given into my sweet tooth and have been eating my fair share of baked goods from the panaderias that tempt you ever 1/2 block or so.

Yesterday, a guy that works for PRISMA, an MFI in the area, took us to do more interviews. We went all the way to his 'zona' to do a few rural interviews. This included going about an hour and a half on motorcycle. Something I can easily say I never want to do again...on the way back, we got pulled over by the cops b/c the license plate on the motorcycle wasn't right or something. Anyhow, instead of getting a ticket (which would have entailed going to the police station for a few hours), my driver instead just paid off the cops, and off we went. Yay corrupt police forces in developing country!

Today we're going to this big arts market about 15 minutes from Piura. We heard they have great food there too, so I'm excited to check it out. This week is fiestas patrias (or rather, their independence day). Its officially on Wednesday, the 28th, but we've heard that everyone takes off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Hopefully we'll be able to get some more work done before enjoying the holiday!! We're planning to leave Piura probably on Friday and head back to Cusco for our last week. I'm states-bound exactly 2 weeks from today!!

P.S. I haven't taken any photos in Piura yet, but if/when I do, I'll post something interesting to look at...

Piura

We got to Piura this past Friday evening. We went from Ica to Lima (5 hours), then hopped on a bus 20 min after getting to Lima that took us all the way to Piura. It was supposed to be a 15 hour bus ride...but we got slightly confused so it ended up being longer. We thought that Piura was the last stop of the bus we were on, but we were wrong. We ended up going 4 hours north of Piura, before realizing that we had gone too far (nobody was anouncing stops along the way, apparently we're not supposed to be tourists, and we're just supposed to know where we are at all times...). We had to get off and go the 4 hours back. In the end, we were on a bus for about 30 hours, great fun!

Piura has actually been very successful moneylender-wise though! Juan, the IPA project director here, has been incredibly helpful. We had 2 interviews the first day we were here! Then today, we had a meeting with the PRISMA microfinance office. They were great. Two of their loan officers spent all morning taking us around to moneylenders they know and we got FIVE more interviews! We have been completely blown away. The people in the north are known for being more open and friendly, but I can't believe the impact its having on our work. We have a few more promised interviews in the next few days. Pushing our interview total in Piura far above that of Cusco, in only a few days!

Today I also tried ceviche for the first time. I haven't tried it yet because I assumed I wouldn't like it because it has onions (and I have a great aversion to onions). However, I was pleasantly surprised. Turns out raw fish 'cooked' with lemon and covered with onions is actually really good!

Another fun fact is that I traveled around all morning on the back of a motorcycle. I had 1/2 promised myself I would never ride on one b/c they look so dangerous, but I make exceptions when it comes to moneylenders...so off we went. Turns out that its actually pretty fun! Also the loan officers are really nice guys who invited us to go to the beach with them this weekend. The beach is only about 45 minutes away from here, and the weather has been pretty nice (even though its winter) so we may go.

The only downside of Piura is the vast amount of mosquitos. I have over 20 bug bites on my face, and literally too many on my arms to keep track of. I don't even see them, but they seem to really be liking me :(

Nasca and heading towards Piura

After not having enough success in Ica, our research director requested that we move to a different coastal city called Piura. Its on the northern coast of Peru, so we have a cumulative 20 hour bus ride ahead of us (4 hours to Lima then 16 from Lima to Piura). Our director wants us to go there because there is an IPA office in Piura, which she believes will be helpful in having us find moneylenders. I am doubtful about this for two reason, 1. we had an IPA office in Cusco, and even though they tried to help us find moneylenders there, it didn't result in any type of moneylender jackpot and 2. we have spoken with the IPA people in Piura, and they do not seem to know anything about informal lending (although they have been very supportive and will try to be helpful when we are there!). In general, I just think informal moneylenders are going to be hard to find whereever we are, whether we are somewhere with an IPA office or not. Therefore, though I am hopeful about the prospects in Piura, I'm a little bummed out that instead of going south and getting to see Lake Titicaca (probably the only real complaint I have about this change of plans), we instead are heading north.

On a different note, we decided to take the 2 hours bus today to see the Nasca lines! The Nasca lines are are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert of Peru. They are a big mystery because nobody knows how they got there (though Mike and I speculated that its probably a tourist agency hoax ha). The only way you can see them is by going up in a plane. The planes are TINY, and even today, when the weather was perfect, I got a little motion sickness. To make me feel better, they gave me a cotton ball with alcohol on it to smell. I thought that was pretty weird! Up in flight we saw 11 differnt figures, there was a big spider, a condor, a hummingbird, a monkey, and my favorite, the astronaut. Some were harder to see than others, and I only managed to get pictures of a few!

Islas Ballestas and Huacachina

SEA LIONS!

PENGUINOS!

PELICANS!

Today, we took the day to accomplish some touristy ends (as moneylenders don't usually collect on sundays anyways). We woke up early and went to Pisco/Paracas to see las Islas Ballestas. They're known as 'the poor man's Galapagos Islands'. We could only see the from the boat we were on, but it was still cool to see penguins, LOTS of different kinds of birds, and sea lions basking on these big rock-like islands off the coast. We had a good time, and as you can see, I had befriended some pelicans by the end of the trip!

Once we got back to our hotel in Ica, we decided we should check out the nearby city of Huacachina during our downtime before the world cup final. Turns out it was a pretty cool place. There are huge sand dunes there (we still don't really understand why) and a pretty artificial lake plopped in the middle of the tiny town. We enjoyed watching some people attempt to sandboard down the slopes, then hiked down watched Espana's victory over Holland at a restaurant in town. Overall a very enjoyable day.

We had plans to leave Ica tomorrow and head to Nasca. However, our research director has decided that we should stay in Ica for a few more days and try to take down some borrower interviews. We're a little bummed, because there really isn't much to do in Ica. But, we're going to work hard the next few days so we can get enough data to leave soon without feeling too bad!

Ica

We've been here in Ica for 4 days now. Luckily for us, the hotel we're staying in has wifi. It has essentially saved us, since there is absolutely nothing to do in Ica (aside from looking for informal moneylenders) and the streets are dangerous at night.

The people in the markets here have been much friendlier than they were in Cusco. They actually invited us to a meeting at the market where the merchant association discussed issues they were having in the market. Since then, people appear to be trying to help us talk to moneylenders. We met with one, who turned out to be a HUGE talker, and between two days talked to us for about 4 hours. Of course the information we wanted to get out of him, he wasn't interested in divulging, but he did give us an interesting overview of his business and the type of personality this type of profession requires. He also informed us that most other moneylenders in the area were jealous and guarded people who often used violence to ensure repayment. Because of this, he told us they would either refuse to speak with us, lie to us if we spoke with them, and in general, be semi-dangerous to approach. We're taking that information with a grain of salt (considering they are his competitors) but also proceeding with caution.

We were also suprised yesterday to find out after interviewing the Caja Municipal de Ica, that these quasi-banks actually don't collect repayments daily in Ica. In Cusco, we found that banks (and these cajas) have changed there business model to target the market base that generally goes to informal moneylenders. The banks in Cusco send representatives to collect loans from the people in the market daily, to make it easier for these clients to repay. Here in Ica, however, the Cajas do not do this. We speculate it is because it is more dangerous to collect here. We heard that some moneylenders bring guns when they come to collect, and some banks that tried to collect daily at the markets were robbed shortly thereafter.

After finding out this information, we think that some people in the market are lying to us. Many people told us that they only work with the banks, though clearly if they are repaying daily, that is impossible. We think their lies are a mixture of protecting both themselves and us from the moneylenders here. Yesterday, I was sitting with a lady waiting for her to introduce me to a moneylender. While I was sitting there, a lady came up to her, collected money, signed off a card that said "prestamo" at the top, then moved on. I asked her if that lady was from a bank, she shook her head at me, then proceeded not to explain why I wasn't allowed to talk to her moneylender. About an hour later, she told me the lender we were waiting for must not be coming today, and that I should come back a different day. Clearly, she didn't want me to talk to her lender, though I'm still not sure why.

We're not sure how much longer we need to stay in Ica. We're thinking of moving onto our next coastal city either tomorrow or early next week. We'll probably either go to Pisco or Nasco next.