Fun Fact No. 23: Voting is mandatory. Yup, if you DON'T vote, you get a fine (about $33) and if you don't pay it, it's doubled and then you go to jail for a bit. If we had this law, maybe we wouldn't have so many bastards in office. Just a thought.
Fun Fact No. 24: There's a Sober Law during elections. All bars, restaurants, supermarkets, and clubs stop selling alcohol 48 hours before elections and alcohol may not be bought or consumed until 24 hours after elections. I guess it's to avoid riots, but you'd think it was like cutting off oxygen to these people. And of course, I'm going to go ahead and buy all my liquor for my birthday party tomorrow so I don't have to worry.
So the big election day is Sunday, November 19, the day after my birthday. And let me tell you, these people are SERIOUS about their elections. It's kind of funny. They have a million different parties and whomever runs advertises by taking some popular reggaeton song and changing the lyrics to fit their platforms. The city is one big, bompin' election campaign NOISE and it's only been escalating. Votes are bought by free concerts, raffles (where you can win a motorcycle), free alcohol, and free food. The key word is "free" which EVERYONE loves here. I can't even tell you how many candidates are running for Mayor of Iquitos and Mayor of Maynas (the province where we are). Interesting to say the least.
What have I been doing lately? Well, actually, I'm looking into how to start an NGO. There's this guy named Fernando Cordova who is one of the most driven people I have EVER met. He has studied the piano for about 20 years and is a self-taught cellist, violinist, violist, and bassist. He single-handedly began the first (and only) orchestra in Iquitos about 5 months ago at an all girls school. He raised money to buy instruments and he taught about 25 girls how to read music and play proficiently in less than 6 months. Holy crap! I really want to help him be able to study with actual musicians and to have actual musicians come to Peru to help do workshops and work with these kids. So the Mother Superior, Fernando, and I are putting our heads together to get something started. We need instruments, music, music stands, tuners, resin, endpin stops, teachers...not to mention just general administrative help. I think I'm biting off WAY more than I can chew, but we'll see. I am REALLY passionate about this, and I want to get it off the ground.
On another note, I am now a home owner here in Iquitos. I bought a house for $400. It has four walls, a roof, and a backyard. It's not for me, actually, and I'm being paid back. My friends Jorge and Delina from the village where I did my master's research, were in town recently, and stopped by to say hi. They started talking about their grand plan to get started in the city, and they've been working their butts off to get things going. They have a full-fledged mini-market in the village, and they have their own motor boat (serious status if you're from BFE Amazon). They wanted a homebase and they were a smidge short. I know, I know, friends and money never mix. But I've loaned them money before, and they have ALWAYS paid me back before the deadline, usually 2 months beforehand. I trust them implicitly, and anyway, since I'm not paying rent or anything, it's money well-spent. I feel kind of cool that i own a house though. I'll take a picture of it and post it later.
I haven't been able to do much research this week because of the campaigning madness. Every musician in town is crazy busy playing for campaign parties. It's nuts. I'm mostly just looking forward to my birthday. We're having cebiche on the Big Day at my house with my nearest and dearest (Mario Luis, Cesar, Lilia, Monica, Lars, Charitin, and the family) and then on Sunday, it's party-time. Everyone (I think about 30 people) are coming over. I'm excited. :)
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