Written June 5.
Last night I went to a small house party with some of the volunteers for VEN Peru. I got back home around 2:30 and slept till noon. Jannet woke me up at noon, "Mi hija, son las doce. Todavia tienes suenyo??" Haha She's such a sweetheart. She gave me a bracelet para suerte.
Today we went to Huanchaco. Well first Jannet went to vote and we took pictures. She talks about Ollanta the way my grandmother talks about Obama. When we (Jannet, su hija Lili, y otra chica de Wisconsin se llama Laura) went to Huanchaco, Jannet made sure I got good prices on everything I bought. I was going to buy souvenirs but I spent all my money on myself. But my mom and Sanari should know that I thought about them lol. I got two pairs of amazing earrings and a scarf for about 10 bucks. Probably would have spent about 30 in the States, so I had to buy it here. Didn't have a choice. Hopefully I'll have time to go buy shoes at the mall tomorrow. Ok, maybe that's too much lol. It's overcast and a little chilly today. Jannet attributed the weather to God, saying that He was angry with Peru about the runoff elections.
When we got back from Huanchaco we ate and waited for the exit polls to show that Ollanta was ahead of Keiko. Entonces, tenemos una minifiesta en el apartamento. Lili y Jannet were so happy! Now we're sitting in the back of her brother-in-law's pickup truck with her sister, brother-in-law, cousin, niece, and three strangers who just hopped in. The Plaza de Armas is flooded with people screaming "Ollanta presidente" and "Contra la corrupcion" (from what I've gathered Keiko is the daughter of a former sketchy president, so lots of people are anti-Keiko outside of Lima and a few other cities. Her dad did help the economy a lot and put Peru on a growth track, but lots of folks only recognize the corruption). People are honking their horns, waving Peruvian flags. Reminds me of the night Obama won in 2008. Lili is 30, but she looks like a teenager standing over me yelling for Ollanta. She's aging well. Very well. She was hoping I didn't speak Spanish so that she could practice her English, but that hasn't happened lol. Lili's prima is tying her flag around her neck like a cape. The chanting has changed to "The people have decided. Ollanta already won." Jannet says she won't be surprised if Keiko is president by the end of the night. But for now, Trujillo is proud and celebrating democracy...
Was it dangerous to go to la Plaza de Armas? In hindsight, yeah, it might have been. If something had happened Laura and I would have been SOL. But you only live once and you may as well live on the edge. Now if I had been in Egypt or Libya, I probably would have avoided any political event. My father is likely to have a heart attack when he reads this. He's been telling me to "be careful," and that wasn't exactly careful. However, now I have a cool story to tell my kids.
...When they release the official results around 8, Jannet tells Laura and I that, "We didn't vote for Ollanta. We voted against corruption." In his acceptance speech Ollanta makes several promises and says a lot of stuff that sounds good. I mention to Jannet that Obama had a lot of good speeches and made promises, but people had unrealistic expectations. They thought he'd turn the country around in 6 months to year, which wasn't possible, so now they are upset. Jannet thinks Peruvians might be in the same boat. I'll be interested to see where Peru is in 2 or 3 years. The economy has tripled in the last ten years because of private investment and tourism, so we'll see what it looks like in a few years.
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