Friday Sex Talk!

As always, I love the food here and want to start my de-lazing post with tasty food pics. On Friday I bought my first "triple", which is a sandwich of two pieces of bread cut in half and three ingredients between the layers. They are less than $1 but so good. I got one with spinach, queso fresco, and tomato, also with mayonnaise, on a wheat (integral) bread. Soon I'll try the one Rocio got: egg, avocado (called palta instead of aguacate), and tomato, I think. I also bought some passion fruit and orange juice, and watched them squeeze the fruits. :D

Before we went to the next sex education presentation, Juan Pedro, Ronaldo, and I went to the grocery store to buy a ton of wine and soda for an upcoming event. While we were there, the employees were giving out some free samples, so I got some chocolate, a mini-sandwich, and a shot of rum. :) I thought it was pretty hilarious that they were giving out alcohol in a grocery store, so Juan Pedro took a picture of me.

On the way to the sex talk, I saw some white people sitting suspiciously in a large group on the sidewalk (something Peruvians probably wouldn't do, it's really dirty on the sidewalks). One of them saw me and said, "How's it going?" and I said, "Pretty good". But we were running late, so I didn't stop. The guy got up and followed me, however, and started talking really fast to me in English, telling me he was from Boston, not acknowledging when I said we were going to be late like last time, and basically being a little irritating. He said, "We're here to tell people about Christ!" and I said, "I already know about Christ, thanks. We really need to hurry." He gave us some pamphlets, then Enrique and Juan Pedro jumped all over me after we left to ask what that guy was saying. I explained that they were Protestant evangelicals here to proselytize in a country full of Catholics and, in my opinion, probably going to stir things up instead of doing charity work in a country that really needs it. Enrique said, "ENGLISH SO HARD." ;) We had to catch up to Rocio and Zaira.

We got to the school on time and about 40 students assembled in an open area with chairs, a roof over part of it, and a basketball goal. Enrique starts the talk by explaining the difference between sex and gender, and asks what color blanket a baby girl would be dressed in, and a baby boy. The students understand the point and agree that they make assumptions on clothing, but they say that it would probably be normal to dress their boy in pink or their girl in blue, as compared to the past. I was surprised to hear that same thought echoed from the previous sex ed lesson: the students seem less likely to adhere to rigid gender stereotypes than I would have expected.

The guys also make a big deal out of teaching the children not to use euphemisms for penis and vagina/vulva. The teens always laugh when they hear the slang or "child-appropriate" words that sound cute, like "pee-pee" would in English for penis. But it's crucial that they recognize there is nothing embarrassing about calling a body part by its name like an adult.

We divided up into groups and each group had to make a list of all the things that would define either "responsible sexuality in men" or "responsible sexuality in women". I was in charge of a group, which was intimidating at first because some weren't paying attention and it was kind of loud in the room, but I helped them out in getting started coming up with a list. I gave the marker to different people and tried to get everyone to add something to the list. We ended up brainstorming a lot more ideas than I could have done on my own. ;)

The girls in my group wrote "respeto" on their poster, and when they described it later, specified that it meant both respect between partners, respect for a partner who doesn't want to have sex, and respect of sexual diversity. They said unprompted, "If a man wants to have sex with another man, you should respect them. They should be free to do that because that's their preference." I was really happy to hear them say that, even if that's not the exact words I would have used.

One of the groups had some immature items on their list, like "poop before anal sex", "clean your bits before oral sex", and a promotional plug for their band at the bottom of the poster, but I still like them because they said, "know if you are allergic to latex"!! Click the picture to read all of the bullet points.

I thought it was funny that one of the groups of relatively mature teens used the word that means "dirty and pig-like" (cochino) during their "hygiene" bullet point. Everyone seemed to think that was a normal word but I was imagining a pig rolling around in the mud.

At the end of the presentation, I got to demonstrate how to put a condom on a fake penis! We explained every aspect of condom use to the teens, especially what NOT to do (store in wallet, open with scissors, use old one, etc). But it's really important that they see how it is actually put on before they find themselves in a sexual situation, so I was very proud to be able to show them. I explained that girls should definitely know how to put one on, since often boys don't know how to do it properly and that could lead to an infection or pregnancy. Juan Pedro showed the class how the lube on the expired condom was dry and weird, so I used one of the condoms from my purse, which I carry "just in case" but mostly in case a friend needs one. Throughout the demonstration, we made some jokes and I think every person in the room was enjoying themselves and paying close attention to what we were saying. Completely awesome feeling. It makes me want to work with Inppares forever.

For dinner, I walked over to the marketplace and ordered a royal chicken sandwich, which meant it came with French fries, ham, and a fried egg. It was really tasty and I didn't even mind that the cook had accidentally put a small piece of paper, possibly a teabag, in the sandwich. The ketchup was sweeter, more purple, and more liquidy than what I'm used to.

I searched high and low for the best possible dessert, and found it at the grocery store in the form of "trufo borracho", aka drunken truffle, for only 2 soles. It was the richest, most delicious chocolate concoction I have put in my mouth. I wanted to take a picture of it but it was so good that I ate it into disfigurement as fast as possible. It was pretty big! I saved the crumbs for later. :D

After dinner, I went to the gay-and-everyone-else nightclub Down Town Vale Todo for their 10-year anniversary party. My friend Yoko picked me up in a taxi and shared her sangria pitcher with me. :) I was bummed out that I missed the 9pm free entrance and instead had to pay 20 soles ($7.25), twice as much as I had expected. I think I won't be going back to VT unless it's before 9pm. I had a great time dancing for an hour or so, got just a little bit tipsy with the sangria... and then got super tired suddenly. The club had gotten extremely crowded and I was not in the mood for drunk, sweaty people bumping into me. I ended up resting at midnight and going home at 1am, a pretty early night for someone at VT because the drag shows start at 1am. Yoko called her special taxi for me and arranged a ride for me for 10 soles, but the cabbie tried to charge me 15 at my apartment. Because of the unexpected entrance fee to VT, I honestly only had 10 soles so tough luck for him. I don't think I'll be calling him again if he wants to take advantage of my foreignness.