Last time in Trujillo..

Passing through and here are some of the sights there:

Apple iStores are all around Peru big cities, they are just called ‘iPlaces’ and many people tell me straight out they sell imitation Apple products.

Saying goodbye to the Melendez family in Trujillo, was caring for their house a bit in Molinopampa..

Selections for Miss World Peru.. Probably an honor for anyone that’s in the competition.. Didn’t want to stay around to see what it was like.

Just like with beaches around the world, there are young people goofing off.

Odd Products Seen While on the Way to Lima..

For Peru at least they are a little strange, maybe now these are in the states and we might not even know it:

There definitely are no 24hr Walmarts around here, or any 24 hour stores, but in Chacha it seems like you can get fresh Trout at any hour day or night.

Probably not worth a try because I have no real urge for frosted flakes, but this sugar cereal is GRRRIQUISIMAS..!

Everyone and their relatives are crazy for Nike, and if almost identical socks are made by Nioke, so be it..

Public bathroom in Trujillo, the mall actually. Safe place, but still trying to figure out why you’d need to lock up the flushing mechanism of the toilet.

And these Nioke socks selling for about $1/pair are quite a good deal.  They would probably go well with the Naike Sneakers that are real popular in Molinopampa.

Very Close Mayoral Elections, Segundo Wins..

Here is the next mayor of Molinopampa, Segundo Anaximandro Huaman Sopla, or Shego or Piston as he’s nicknamed.

By just 24 votes, Segundo won the district mayor race last night.  Barely over taking Keni Roy and will start his 4 year term of office in January 2015.  Good for Peace Corps sake because he seems like a genuine guy who talks slow and clearly and wants what’s best for the community.  For the other results, GH president Gilmer Horna walked away with the President of the Region campaign and current Provincial Mayor of Chachapoyas, Diogenes Zavaleta Tenorio won his re-election.

Residents from all around the district starting coming in early, and town starting filing up with people.

Candidates often sponsored the rides to bring in more people. But then again everyone of age is required by law to vote or the fine for refraining is 78 soles.

Plaza filled up quickly and everyone waited to go into the one district polling station, the primary school.

Police keeping watch over the entrance to the polling place, also everyone looking out for golondrinos or people getting paid to come to a district and vote illegally for a candidate.

The Peru military was also on hand from the base in Bagua Grande, there were reports that fights would break out based on the results. Everything turned out peaceful nonetheless.

Candidates for Mayor posted with their potential council members and party affiliation.

Candidates for Regional President, who will eventually win a great big salary from the state and more control then anyone in Amazonas.

Polls (the 4 tables of voting) closed at 4pm in the evening and the mob starting waiting for results in front of the entrance.

By about 6:30pm representatives from the ‘tables’ stating coming out and announcing who won their table. What’s odd is that it wasn’t much of an announced statement as is was a guy walking out, walking by and whispering to the crowd.

Results from all 4 tables came in and the crowd finally learned that Segundo, or the representative from the ‘house’ party prevailed. Many of the supporters were there and got really really excited.

Excited enough by about 7pm to raise the emblem and start marching through all the streets of Molinopampa. You might have thought that everyone in town was going to be awarded with a free new car from how excited everyone was. The party continued throughout the night.

We’ll see what happens next year.  Looking forward to following the progress of the town through my replacement volunteer who’ll show up around the 1st of December..

Molinopampa Mayoral Race..

This coming Sunday is election day in Peru and campaigns have been in full swing.  The community here will be voting for President of the Region (Department, Amazonas), Mayor of the Provence (Chachapoyas), Regional Member of Council (whatever they do), and most importantly Mayor of the Municipality (Molinopampa).  I say most importantly because this election is what most anyone is talking about.  The town/municipal mayor is one who is always seen by the people representing this community and directing funds and projects for whatever the area needs or can benefit from.  There’s 5 guys who have put their names in the race and one of which will be the mayor starting in January 2015, till 2018.

Papilon (or Manuel), Tree Party, is local radio personality who runs many years.

Keni Roy, GH Party, is a young farming engineer who works in Chachapoyas but is from the annex of Huasacazala. Wants to focus on a plan of action before diving into infrastructure projects.

Miguel, Orange Party, is the brother of our current Mayor Gilberto. He has plenty of support in the Santa Rosa annex and will continue the works.

Segundo (or Piston), FA or Fuerza Amazonese Party, was mayor of town a couple cycles back and did a decent job. He’s a local construction manager and as expected, wants to focus on public works projects.

Mario, Maslucan Party, is the brother of former mayor Carmen Oliva, and is from the annex of Espadilla. His platform includes building a library in the center of town.

Peru uses quite a few different political parties as you can see, some of which only spring up for one election.  GH is a major transportation company here, Maslucan is just the name of the guy running for Regional President; nonetheless, they can all register to be included and the majority vote gets the win.

The month of September has seen quite a few ‘meetings’ as they are called in Spanish or campaign rallies as we in the states know them to be.  What’s funny about these events for each set of candidates for the various parties is that they have plenty of beer, music and rooting and speeches.  Andrea and I were kept up until about 2am a few nights ago when a ‘meeting’ was held right in the center of most of the houses.  Remeber what I mentioned about noise.  I couldn’t get many pictures the ‘meetings’ it’s often very dark and just people rallying together and hooting.   Here’s some other scenes from the campaigns.

Keni Roy Rally or ‘Meeting’ intruding future city council men and women.

This is a political party that might not fly in the USA… The Chicken Party

The perfect promotional material to hand out to all the kids at school: Matches!

We’ll see what happens on Sunday, Oct 5, it’s the only day of the year that alcohol is prohibited from being sold and all members of the district will come to town to cast their vote.  Should be close.