Taking a Holiday

All this writing these past weeks have left me with a writer´s cramp. Therefore, I have called in a guest writer all the way from China that small country tucked away down there. Jed has taken to a new sport besides setting the record of doing research in only your boxer shorts. Enjoy.

What I think I'm enjoying most right now in my China life is my burgeoning athletic career. I wake up at 6:15 every morning and go and play Chinese hackysack with this group of grizzled old dudes down in Ditan (temple of the earth) park. I'm pretty F'ing good; modesty be damned.
One of these guys I've been playing with has been talking to me about "Chinese-style wrestling" for the longest time, so a few weekends ago I thought I'd give it a try. Fast forward to today: I have made a terrible mistake. I'm bruised. I'm battered. But I've become the star attraction at the weekly 2-day tournament. Here's how "Chinese-style wrestling" goes down: two dudes, both wearing traditional wrestling vests cinched tightly with cloth belts, square off in a 16ft dirt circle. The key in Chinese wrestling is "fist work;" to get a good hand grip on your opponent. And the objective is simply to throw your opponent to the ground or push him out of the ring. There's no punching, no kicking, it's just pushing and pulling on each other's vests and attempting leg sweeps. It's scored: one point if you both fall, two points if one of you is still standing, and three points if you still have your cigarette clenched between your yellowed, scraggly man-teeth. Arrrgh!
The first time I showed up, the call went out to scour the park in search of a sporting opponent. I was poked and prodded and asked how many push ups I can do. Bear in mind "push up" is a euphemism for sexual prowess in China. We did not know that, Dude. After much mocking about my lowly number, I was paired up against this 55 year old, who was a good 4 inches shorter than me. Seemingly impossible, I know. (midget jokes, ha. ha. . . . ha.) Dude was 160 lbs and all muscle. Our bout, which is scored to 10, lasted about 6 minutes and went something like this:
Jed: Ok. I'm just gonna' play defensive. Let him come to me and use his ....AKH!
Him: Grunt ::sticks leg behind me, shoves me over::
Crowd: ::unconcealed mirth at my defeat::
Repeat 10 times.
I was sore as anything, but laughing stupidly the entire time. It was actually really funny standing up and getting thrown down in this constant repetitive stream. He kept somehow getting inside my guard and just flipping me over his hip. Just stalling and trying to hold the guy off was one of the most grueling exercise experiences I've had in a long time. I did not realize I had muscles in my palm that could seize up. I now have random strangers coming up to me in the park -- and on the street in odd places -- giving me advice about "fist work" and telling me I'll only get better if I practice and listen to my teacher. Gotta' love China.

A Banal Tale

It has been weeks since I have shared my experiences with you and for a brief update, we are currently in Mancora, Peru enjoying our (well my) last days of holiday. Usually through the last five months, I have been able give you anecdotes of our experiences that move away from the banal..."then we went here....and then we went there and ate that..." Yet, over the past three weeks, there has been a certain void of anything exciting to mention or relate. So, you´re welcome, I have saved you from certain boredom. Sam and I have come to the end of our holiday road. While living in Mancora, a beach town in Northern Peru, constantly has the holiday vibe, we have come with a mission to set up our life for the next year or beyond. In all honestly, there have been effermeral moments of activity the last three weeks: we went to the championship baseball game of Granada and Esteli in Granada, walking the boardwalk in Guayaquil, doing two land border crossings. However, we were spent, literally with our budget and our spirits and most of the time took time for ourselves. We had seen all that we could. We came to Mancora to get our roots down. Coming to Mancora has been a bit of whirlwind, but has settled down. We have set ourselves up with an awesome family here which is so beneficial for speaking Spanish and feeling like part of the community. The best part is the father Tato, retired only in employment. He has so much energy and is full stories which most of the time, Sam and I can only decipher 40 percent of the story. He ends his story or his advice of the day with, and sometimes in the middle of his speech, with a WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, always. He is full energy and greets us in the morning with a soldier´s "Hello, howare (joined words) you" That is the extent of his english. It is great practice for both of us and a scary insight to how I probably sound to people when I speak English minus the WOOOOOOOOOO at the end. The mother, Maritza, is the care taker and is always too accomodating giving us food when the family eats and helping us with our conversational spanish. She also will speak her mind, but defers to Tato when he gets rolling.
Aside from family life, Sam has been trying to get some semblance of an income which is tough in a small beach town, We have been told it is hard for a foreigner to get a job, yet Sam has already been hired at a bar and then quit two days later. She has now taken up teaching English to a Peruvian kid, who would rather have hot coal pokers stuck in him then learn. More teaching jobs have sprung up thanks to some friends we have met here and Sam will be able to float by hopefully for the next six months or so. She will be primarily working for Technoserve, a volunteer organization, online then doing field work for them in six months. As for me, I am getting more and more excited to start training and get to meet the staff and kids at Mama Cocha. For those of you who dont know, I will be project director of their Mama Cocha/ Early Bird Center here in Mancora for the Kiya Survivors organization: kiyasurvivors.org. I am nervous to begin, but I know that this will be an immense challenge, but an absolutely rewarding one on all levels.