So Thursday was an insanely crazy day, first thing in the morning BJ came over to pick up his bed and stuff and we took it back to his town, carrying a mattress up the hills that he lives on was not fun, but at least now we know it won’t have to be done again. Then afterward we went to his principals house to present our solicitud for summer school, however the principal thought it would be a good idea to present it at the HUGE town meeting they were having that day at the school. So he agreed and I decided to hang around because later we were heading back to my town for the kindergarten graduation. Well before the meeting, we were wandering around and ran into his host dad leaned up against a building with a touniquet on his leg dripping blood, apparently he had sliced his leg open cutting rice in the field. And from the looks of it, it was really bad. Unfortunately the nurse in the health center was gone for the day and instead of anyone helping him people were standing around staring. I was really really worried about him, so I gave him my water and BJ asked someone for chair and we went wondering looking around for someone to take him to my town to get him help. It was very sad when we found that people just weren’t concerned and unwilling to help. Eventually we found a moto taxi to take him.
After that, we went to the meeting. It was at the school and all the parents were hanging out in this courtyard waiting for it to begin. It is really funny, but whenever there are meetings the men and the women divide and sit on opposite sides. Well when we walked into this courtyard everyone just stared at us. I am getting more adjusted to the fact that is happens everywhere I go, but I am still not comfortable with it. Initially I sat against a wall on the outskirts of the meeting, but then one of the leaders came and got us and put us in chairs at the head of the meeting. No matter what or where we always somehow get put into things as though we are the guest of honor.
After an hour or so into this meeting we realized it wasn’t what we thought, it was continous arguments over money and wanting to shorten the school week from 5 days to 3. I ended up having to leave early to get back to my town, but apparently 2 of the board leaders stepped down after I left and BJ said the meeting went no where.
When I got home, I was freaking out because I thought I was late for the Kindergarten graduation. However, I continuously forget that I am on Peruvian time, and even though my family said it started at 3 and I got home at 3:15, they hadn’t even started getting ready yet. So I got ready, and they encouraged me to wear this super cute new pair of heals that I had bought, even though it meant I was towering over them!!! Very literally, I felt like a giant!!!!
Now again, I need to preface things, my host family had asked me to take pictures, which I was very happy to do and had planned on doing it anyway. They also mentioned that I will need to charge people. I should have paid more attention to this.
So when we got to the graduation it was mini prom, the boys had on little suits and the girls had on this big flowy dresses, hair curled and makeup and heals. A little disturbing to watch 5 year olds so done up, but it’s a different culture!
We waiting until about 5 for anything to begin “Peruvian time”, and basically what happened was that the girls were paired with boys and they came into the classroom and were announced…this is when it got crazy for me. The parents kept pulling on me and asking me to take millions of photos of their kids and it was intense and only got worse. Afterwards, they made take multiple photos of each family with the teacher and their kids and front of these cakes, and after that millions of pictures of their kids dancing and then them dancing with their kids. It was insane because they kept pulling on me and pushing me around. And they had no patience when I was trying to get pictures of whoever had asked me first, they are very selfish in that sense and don’t respect me trying to help others. I was literally pulled in a thousand directions.
After all of that we had a dinner which was nice and I helped serve food. And then after that the drinking begin. Let me remind you, we are at the school at the kindergarten classroom. They brought in crates upon crates of beer. The entire time the kids just danced. BJ and I hung out through the whole thing, it’s always an experience. But then it took a creepy turn when people started getting really drunk. The way kids dance here is a little provactive, and at one point we were watching the little girls with their make up and heals dance in front of these drunk dads who were just staring and it had this horrible creepy vibe that made me sick to my stomach. Some traditions for me are just hard to take in because it borderline inappropriate in my book.
Fortunatley the festivities ended a little earlier then I expected and I was very glad for that. Sometimes I worry if there are limits put on anything.
The next morning I went with my host sister to collect water. We took the donkey and went a little ways to this little lagoon area and filled jugs with water to bring home. This place was beautiful and the water was very clean and clear. In fact, where they collect water, they had rocked off this little pool, and the water flowed into it and it was like it’s own little filtration system. No, I still don’t believe the water here is clean, but that little spot looked better then other places.
Later in the day, BJ and I went to Las Lomas to collect more stuff to get our houses in order, mostly food so we could start cooking, it was incredibly hot, so it makes it hard to go exploring when it’s that uncomfortable. But we did end up getting quite a bit of stuff, so that was good. Then, we grabbed lunch there…we think we have found our spot, the lunch was really good, but even better they had maricuya juice. Maricuya is this little hard shelled lime looking fruit (we having nothing in the US to compare it too), but it produces the absolute best juice I have ever had in my life. So the whole lunch didn’t even matter to me, it was the juice that made it fantastic.
Afterwards, we found a “taxi” to take us home. This “taxi” is a pick up truck. Like a little tiny pickup truck that has a little area behind the two front seat for people to sit. Well, to get home, they crammed 4 people in that back seat, and BJ and I were told to both sit in the front seat. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to share the front seat of a TINY little truck for 45 minutes????? Plus we drive on crazy rocky windy roads!!! It’s not fun!!!! My left arm had gone numb because it was clutching the door to hold myself up to give BJ more space who was sitting almost on top of the gear shifter. And my other arm was clutching the roof outside the window. It was terrible, but it’s the way it goes here, these taxi drivers don’t like to go anywhere until they fill their cars….way past capacity!!!!!!
Today I woke up to my family huddled in the kitchen. My host mom is having a really rough time because her brother is very sick in Lima. So tomorrow she and my little host sister are going to be going to Lima indefinitely, I am really sad about this but I completely understand. That is a difficult time for them. So they may not be here for Christmas either.
Later today I promised my little host sister we would paint, but first I think we are going to do some work in the fields, I asked to go so I can see what it is really like. My host Dad had to travel up the side of the mountain to a field that is located pretty much on top of the mountain and he has been sleeping there, they tell me it’s very far, but he’ll be back tonight. I give these people so much credit for how hard they work. Later, I think I am going to start working on formulating my diagnostic, I guess it’s time I get to doing some real work too.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
There are jerks EVERYWHERE!
Today was definitely one of the most frustrating days that I have had as a peace corps volunteer. It started off great, because for one, my bed was delivered yesterday so I slept last night with my new nice big mattress. Plus, this morning I also used the wonderful solar shower that my parents sent me, which was amazing and totally beats the bucket baths that I had been taken. But most importantly today started off great because I went to the school, which I had been hesitant about doing because I am so insecure about my Spanish. Well I sucked it up and went this morning because I had to submit a request to teach summer school and I was asking the school for a classroom to do it in. Well when I went, the kids first showed me the pictures outside of the classroom from my bienvenidos, I didn’t know that was there, then I was welcomed into the office by the director who remembered my name, and I was able to joke with him about the horrible spelling of his name on a letter from the Peace Corp office and then I gave him my request. He approved it, and then introduced me to the man that I will get the key from when it comes time to start the summer school. So I felt like it had all been such a success and I was so excited.
Well afterwards I went to the plaza to check for cell phone signal so I could send a text. I was approached by this guy while I was sitting there and at first the conversation was innocent, he just asked about my job and the kind of work I’ll be doing. Then he asked me about some of the differences between here and the US and then he got to asking me about a boyfriend……. Since I have told people here that I do have a boyfriend to keep away from any set ups or other questions, I have chosen to lie just to make my life simpler…or so I thought. Well this man begins to tell me about another American he knew that had a boyfriend in the US as well as one in Peru. As he is telling me this he begins crouching out of site from other people and is getting quieter. During this, I am doing my best to hang onto to words from the conversation so that I can understand what he is saying. Well then he precedes to ask me “hypothetically” if I would do the same, have a boyfriend in the Us and one in Peru. I looked at him and told him no. And then he seemed very confused because as he said “Aren’t all Americans equal”….I VERY firmly flipped that and asked if he is equal to all the other people in my town. Then I just preceded telling him that it was a horrible idea and I love my boyfriend very much and that sort of thing is just wrong. He honestly didn’t seem to get the point, and he sat down very close to me and asked if at night I’d like to teach him English. I told him that I will only be teaching English to the children, and he kept persisting that I could teach him English at night. Then, he continued to ask me to go to the bar another night and have dinner with him. I told him that I only eat with my host family and that I would not. Finally, I got smart and asked him to write down his name because I couldn’t remember it, so he did in my notebook, after asking me if it was a ugly name or not and telling me that I was the angel of Chipillico. So I decided to get the hell out of there and raced home. I was almost in tears. For some reason this conversation bothered me tremendously. I think mostly because this guy believed that all Americans are equal and we will just sleep with whoever, and that he had such nerve to ask me such ignorant questions. I was so frustrated because mostly I’ve only been approached by wonderful and nice people and that was so bothersome.
Well when I got home, I pulled out that notebook and showed his name to my host family and told them the kinds of questions he was asking me and how he made me uncomfortable. My host Mom snapped really fast and told me that that guy is not right, he is crazy! And my host sister said next time don’t talk to him and stay away from him. Oh my gosh, I am so thankful for them!!! Later on a walk my youngest sister showed me where he lives and said the same thing about him just not being all there.
I wish that I wouldn’t let something like that ruin my day, but I think I have become complacent in the past few weeks and having something like that happen reminds me that I need to remember where I am at, and as much as we have stereotypes about certain groups of people, other groups of people have stereotypes about us, and I may continue to be asked uncomfortable questions at times. I was proud when I was able to snap at him and tell him about people being equal, and hopefully with more time my Spanish will become awesome and I can tell him more about what I think of him!!!
Well afterwards I went to the plaza to check for cell phone signal so I could send a text. I was approached by this guy while I was sitting there and at first the conversation was innocent, he just asked about my job and the kind of work I’ll be doing. Then he asked me about some of the differences between here and the US and then he got to asking me about a boyfriend……. Since I have told people here that I do have a boyfriend to keep away from any set ups or other questions, I have chosen to lie just to make my life simpler…or so I thought. Well this man begins to tell me about another American he knew that had a boyfriend in the US as well as one in Peru. As he is telling me this he begins crouching out of site from other people and is getting quieter. During this, I am doing my best to hang onto to words from the conversation so that I can understand what he is saying. Well then he precedes to ask me “hypothetically” if I would do the same, have a boyfriend in the Us and one in Peru. I looked at him and told him no. And then he seemed very confused because as he said “Aren’t all Americans equal”….I VERY firmly flipped that and asked if he is equal to all the other people in my town. Then I just preceded telling him that it was a horrible idea and I love my boyfriend very much and that sort of thing is just wrong. He honestly didn’t seem to get the point, and he sat down very close to me and asked if at night I’d like to teach him English. I told him that I will only be teaching English to the children, and he kept persisting that I could teach him English at night. Then, he continued to ask me to go to the bar another night and have dinner with him. I told him that I only eat with my host family and that I would not. Finally, I got smart and asked him to write down his name because I couldn’t remember it, so he did in my notebook, after asking me if it was a ugly name or not and telling me that I was the angel of Chipillico. So I decided to get the hell out of there and raced home. I was almost in tears. For some reason this conversation bothered me tremendously. I think mostly because this guy believed that all Americans are equal and we will just sleep with whoever, and that he had such nerve to ask me such ignorant questions. I was so frustrated because mostly I’ve only been approached by wonderful and nice people and that was so bothersome.
Well when I got home, I pulled out that notebook and showed his name to my host family and told them the kinds of questions he was asking me and how he made me uncomfortable. My host Mom snapped really fast and told me that that guy is not right, he is crazy! And my host sister said next time don’t talk to him and stay away from him. Oh my gosh, I am so thankful for them!!! Later on a walk my youngest sister showed me where he lives and said the same thing about him just not being all there.
I wish that I wouldn’t let something like that ruin my day, but I think I have become complacent in the past few weeks and having something like that happen reminds me that I need to remember where I am at, and as much as we have stereotypes about certain groups of people, other groups of people have stereotypes about us, and I may continue to be asked uncomfortable questions at times. I was proud when I was able to snap at him and tell him about people being equal, and hopefully with more time my Spanish will become awesome and I can tell him more about what I think of him!!!
Sheryl Crow?!?!?!
So I spent the weekend in Piura because we had our regional meeting, and of course to buy more stuff to get my place all set up. I had my first experience at a Peruvian discoteca. Which was much like going to a discoteca in the US, except for a little while there was an open bar, which would be much harder to find in the US. AND…there was Sheryl crow playing in the discoteca…..and they wonder why no one was on the dance floor. The best part of the whole thing was that the group of volunteers who went to the other department of Tumbes was there. So it was exciting to see my friends from training again. Because their region is so small we are all grouped together so it’s really nice to know that I will be able to see them once a month for a weekend. Also all of the other Piura and Tumbes volunteers were in Piura for the meeting as well, so it was nice to meet the veteran volunteers. I met one girl from Potomac Maryland. She asked how I was doing and told me that it is okay to cry sometimes. It was funny because I haven’t really had the urge to cry like I thought I would. I really thought that once I came to site I would struggling,, but instead I am loving it. Some things are hard, but nothing to warrant tears yet.
Sunday, one of the veteran volunteers went with us to help us buy our new beds. We did this in the market. He has warned us many times to be very careful in the market because it is dangerous and people get their stuff stolen. So when I go to the market the only thing I take is my market bag to put the stuff I buy, and I keep my money in my bra. No cell phone, no purse…nothing. Well right before we went in, he checked with one of my friends who brought her purse to make sure it was secure and zipped up. Well as we were walking through I was right behind him when this one guy got in front of me and started kicking at his feet like he had dropped something, it was really really strange. Well after a few seconds the guy walked away and I asked the volunteer what that was all about…well in that exact moment, he realized his wallet had been stolen. First, the guy hadn’t gotten the chance to run, so the volunteer pulled him aside and confronted him, and the people in the market began to gather. The guy swatted at the volunteer and took off into the market, so we followed him, which turned into a chase. For a moment we lost the guy, but I spotted him at a stand where he had ditched his hat and was trying to blend in, so the chase went on and ended when the volunteer got the guy and was able to grab one of the security guards. Well at this point, the guy obviously didn’t have the wallet because he had time to stash it somewhere or pass it off, but we had seen it happen. So the volunteer started getting really mad because the security guard wasn’t doing anything and people started crowding around saying that this guy wouldn’t do stuff like that, and were from America where things are different. So in the end the guy was able to get away and all that was left was some really pissed off Peace Corps volunteers. Fortunately the volunteer only had a small amount of money and his ATM card in the wallet which could easily be replaced, but it was just the point of feeling helpless and having you hands on the thief and nothing is able to be done about it. Plus it made me realize how much I need to study because if that had happened to me I am not sure I would have all the right words to express myself.
Later I returned to my site, and was very excited because I had bought a small table to set up my new kitchen. My host mom adjusted the kitchen to have a little space for me to be able to cook, she also shifted the microwave to my side because she doesn’t know how to use and says that I can use it. So I bought my balloon of gas and now I’m ready to go, I just have to figure out where to buy the food.
Sunday, one of the veteran volunteers went with us to help us buy our new beds. We did this in the market. He has warned us many times to be very careful in the market because it is dangerous and people get their stuff stolen. So when I go to the market the only thing I take is my market bag to put the stuff I buy, and I keep my money in my bra. No cell phone, no purse…nothing. Well right before we went in, he checked with one of my friends who brought her purse to make sure it was secure and zipped up. Well as we were walking through I was right behind him when this one guy got in front of me and started kicking at his feet like he had dropped something, it was really really strange. Well after a few seconds the guy walked away and I asked the volunteer what that was all about…well in that exact moment, he realized his wallet had been stolen. First, the guy hadn’t gotten the chance to run, so the volunteer pulled him aside and confronted him, and the people in the market began to gather. The guy swatted at the volunteer and took off into the market, so we followed him, which turned into a chase. For a moment we lost the guy, but I spotted him at a stand where he had ditched his hat and was trying to blend in, so the chase went on and ended when the volunteer got the guy and was able to grab one of the security guards. Well at this point, the guy obviously didn’t have the wallet because he had time to stash it somewhere or pass it off, but we had seen it happen. So the volunteer started getting really mad because the security guard wasn’t doing anything and people started crowding around saying that this guy wouldn’t do stuff like that, and were from America where things are different. So in the end the guy was able to get away and all that was left was some really pissed off Peace Corps volunteers. Fortunately the volunteer only had a small amount of money and his ATM card in the wallet which could easily be replaced, but it was just the point of feeling helpless and having you hands on the thief and nothing is able to be done about it. Plus it made me realize how much I need to study because if that had happened to me I am not sure I would have all the right words to express myself.
Later I returned to my site, and was very excited because I had bought a small table to set up my new kitchen. My host mom adjusted the kitchen to have a little space for me to be able to cook, she also shifted the microwave to my side because she doesn’t know how to use and says that I can use it. So I bought my balloon of gas and now I’m ready to go, I just have to figure out where to buy the food.
Sheryl Crow?!?!?!
So I spent the weekend in Piura because we had our regional meeting, and of course to buy more stuff to get my place all set up. I had my first experience at a Peruvian discoteca. Which was much like going to a discoteca in the US, except for a little while there was an open bar, which would be much harder to find in the US. AND…there was Sheryl crow playing in the discoteca…..and they wonder why no one was on the dance floor. The best part of the whole thing was that the group of volunteers who went to the other department of Tumbes was there. So it was exciting to see my friends from training again. Because their region is so small we are all grouped together so it’s really nice to know that I will be able to see them once a month for a weekend. Also all of the other Piura and Tumbes volunteers were in Piura for the meeting as well, so it was nice to meet the veteran volunteers. I met one girl from Potomac Maryland. She asked how I was doing and told me that it is okay to cry sometimes. It was funny because I haven’t really had the urge to cry like I thought I would. I really thought that once I came to site I would struggling,, but instead I am loving it. Some things are hard, but nothing to warrant tears yet.
Sunday, one of the veteran volunteers went with us to help us buy our new beds. We did this in the market. He has warned us many times to be very careful in the market because it is dangerous and people get their stuff stolen. So when I go to the market the only thing I take is my market bag to put the stuff I buy, and I keep my money in my bra. No cell phone, no purse…nothing. Well right before we went in, he checked with one of my friends who brought her purse to make sure it was secure and zipped up. Well as we were walking through I was right behind him when this one guy got in front of me and started kicking at his feet like he had dropped something, it was really really strange. Well after a few seconds the guy walked away and I asked the volunteer what that was all about…well in that exact moment, he realized his wallet had been stolen. First, the guy hadn’t gotten the chance to run, so the volunteer pulled him aside and confronted him, and the people in the market began to gather. The guy swatted at the volunteer and took off into the market, so we followed him, which turned into a chase. For a moment we lost the guy, but I spotted him at a stand where he had ditched his hat and was trying to blend in, so the chase went on and ended when the volunteer got the guy and was able to grab one of the security guards. Well at this point, the guy obviously didn’t have the wallet because he had time to stash it somewhere or pass it off, but we had seen it happen. So the volunteer started getting really mad because the security guard wasn’t doing anything and people started crowding around saying that this guy wouldn’t do stuff like that, and were from America where things are different. So in the end the guy was able to get away and all that was left was some really pissed off Peace Corps volunteers. Fortunately the volunteer only had a small amount of money and his ATM card in the wallet which could easily be replaced, but it was just the point of feeling helpless and having you hands on the thief and nothing is able to be done about it. Plus it made me realize how much I need to study because if that had happened to me I am not sure I would have all the right words to express myself.
Later I returned to my site, and was very excited because I had bought a small table to set up my new kitchen. My host mom adjusted the kitchen to have a little space for me to be able to cook, she also shifted the microwave to my side because she doesn’t know how to use and says that I can use it. So I bought my balloon of gas and now I’m ready to go, I just have to figure out where to buy the food.
Sunday, one of the veteran volunteers went with us to help us buy our new beds. We did this in the market. He has warned us many times to be very careful in the market because it is dangerous and people get their stuff stolen. So when I go to the market the only thing I take is my market bag to put the stuff I buy, and I keep my money in my bra. No cell phone, no purse…nothing. Well right before we went in, he checked with one of my friends who brought her purse to make sure it was secure and zipped up. Well as we were walking through I was right behind him when this one guy got in front of me and started kicking at his feet like he had dropped something, it was really really strange. Well after a few seconds the guy walked away and I asked the volunteer what that was all about…well in that exact moment, he realized his wallet had been stolen. First, the guy hadn’t gotten the chance to run, so the volunteer pulled him aside and confronted him, and the people in the market began to gather. The guy swatted at the volunteer and took off into the market, so we followed him, which turned into a chase. For a moment we lost the guy, but I spotted him at a stand where he had ditched his hat and was trying to blend in, so the chase went on and ended when the volunteer got the guy and was able to grab one of the security guards. Well at this point, the guy obviously didn’t have the wallet because he had time to stash it somewhere or pass it off, but we had seen it happen. So the volunteer started getting really mad because the security guard wasn’t doing anything and people started crowding around saying that this guy wouldn’t do stuff like that, and were from America where things are different. So in the end the guy was able to get away and all that was left was some really pissed off Peace Corps volunteers. Fortunately the volunteer only had a small amount of money and his ATM card in the wallet which could easily be replaced, but it was just the point of feeling helpless and having you hands on the thief and nothing is able to be done about it. Plus it made me realize how much I need to study because if that had happened to me I am not sure I would have all the right words to express myself.
Later I returned to my site, and was very excited because I had bought a small table to set up my new kitchen. My host mom adjusted the kitchen to have a little space for me to be able to cook, she also shifted the microwave to my side because she doesn’t know how to use and says that I can use it. So I bought my balloon of gas and now I’m ready to go, I just have to figure out where to buy the food.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Week One….where to begin. I type these entries in my room, and then take them to the internet café whenever I make a trip, so hopefully none of this is repeated from my last entry. The beginning of week one I felt a little lost. After all of the preparation I had in my first 10 weeks, I got here and felt a little confused about what to do next. However, if anything I remembered the key word of the Peace Corps…INTEGRATE. So each morning I have been going for walks. During this time I get to meet a lot of people. I say “Buenos dias” to everyone, and then some of the people engage in more conversations with me. The most popular questions I get are…”Why don’t you run?” and this is because the two volunteers before me were huge runners…one even a marathon runner….and then the other question is “Why do you walk?”. The run question I answer by saying I’m not really comfortable running because the terrain is very different and that I like walking. The walking question I answer by saying its good exercise. Usually they look at me very confused by both responses. But the other day I passed a guy who was hanging out in the back of his moto taxi and he asked me about walking. I told him that I liked the exercise…he said that americans love exercise…and it must be good because it keeps them looking young. I was excited by this response…someone finally gets it…sort of!
I’ve been taking my walks in the morning before it gets to hot….but a few times last week I had to meet up with BJ in the cruceta (which is the town in between ours, or really a little area where the road splits to his town and my town) and we did this in the middle of the afternoon. That walk that I enjoy so much in the mornings SUCKS in the afternoon in the hot sun. It seemed like it took me twice as long because it was just so hot, and the sun is so strong. One of the days I took my trekking book bag…that was a hike. So I think I might be more careful about doing that kind of stuff in the middle of the day.
So last week the first time that I went to meet BJ ( he is my site mate) , we were stopped by the PLAN international guys. They are our counterparts. So that was pretty exciting to meet up with them and exchange numbers. We asked about the projects they are working on and if we can help out, but most of it won’t get started again until after the holidays. So we exchanged numbers and they told us they are here to support us with whatever we need.
Thursday, my host Mom and my host sister asked if I wanted to go for a walk through the chakras (fields) we were going to take lunch to my host Dad. So I went with them, it was one of the most beautiful walks I’ve been on since we got here. It was probably a few miles, but during that time, I found out that my host family owns some land and farms it. They have corn, mangos, maricuya, and other stuff. They also raise cows to sell. So we went out there, and the few from up there is just beautiful! Afterwards, we walked further to visit the house of my host mom’s cousin. Out front of the house is this little stream that cuts through the yard. My host sister Liliana and I took off our shoes and waded through the wat
er. It was also a chance for us to talk more. I learned more about their family that lives in Lima, there are 2 siblings there. One of which is a sister Liliana is close with, but her husband won’t let her go visit. The “machismo” here is strong at times, and in certain situations is very true that the husbands run things. Although he is a nice guy, most of the time during the day he just hangs out with the drunks that come to their cantina.
After the walk I got a tour of Liliana’s house. She lives next door to me. She has the cutest house…as for Peruvian standards. There were 3 bedrooms, each was adorably decorated, and the kids rooms had cute cartoons and stuff hanging on the walls, it was just so cute, and they had pictures all over the rooms. You just don’t see stuff decorated here very much. Peruvians are definitely minimalists. I also got to hold the baby Janela!!! Another interesting fact about Peruvians is that they barely ever put their kids down, babies are always in someone’s arms. But Janela has been scared of me in the past and wouldn’t let me hold her, but apparently she is getting used to me so I got to hold her. She is 10 months and just beautiful, and a really really happy baby!
Friday, BJ and I had found out that there was a health promoters meeting. These are the women who we will work closely with during out 2 years. We will train them to help with our sessions, and they will help during these first 3 months with our community diagnostics. So we decided to attend the meeting. We got there at 8 to help set up, and once that was done…we were told it was starting at 830. Well we are starting to understand what Peruvian time is all about, and we sat there for hours…until about 10-1030 when the health promoters actually started to show up…lastly…the lady running the meeting from PLAN showed up. The meeting was about early childhood stimulation, so she went through a bunch of pictures and stuff to hand around in children’s rooms to get them to start recognizing colors, animals, gender…all kinds of stuff. Well the lady went through it quickly and as soon as she was done the health promoters went crazy grabbing all of her models to trace. Since the women sat at the tables of their towns…there was definitely a little competition in the room.
Snack and Lunch time rolled around and I was asked to help pass out the food. Well….let me remind you that the people holding this meeting are health promoters…in fact it was held in the house of the lead health promoter for the valley. So when it came time to serve lunch I watched 3 of the health promoters serve pasta, chicken, salad and potatoes with their hands. They would pull the food out of the pots and put them on the plates. I know for a fact they did not wash their hands because there was no running water…and I never saw them use anything. It bothers me because I am not the first volunteer here…I am the third…and all of the volunteers have worked with these women on these exact topics…but for some reason they aren’t taking it home. It just seems like I have my work cut out for me still!
So for the weekend, BJ and I went back to Piura city to shop and meet up with one of the girls who was just getting in. I ended up buying a stove so I can start cooking my own food, because even though my host family says they want to make me skinny…they go out of control on the food, so I can’t wait to have some control over that. And as sad as it is, only being under 3 months into my 27 months of service, I have already become sick of rice. Rice comes with every meal, and it just gets old. I bought all of the stuff to help me cook, and even did a little grocery shopping. It’s really fun to shop in the big open market. They have SO much stuff and it’s so cheap, you just have to dodge the crowds and taxis. But I love browsing around there. We also had the opportunity to meet more of the volunteers who live in Piura. We have our regional meeting next week so we will be meeting everyone.
This blog post is getting extended a little further because
I didn’t post the part above yet, and now I have more to add. So this week has been great. Every day I am getting closer and closer with my host family, which I love. That also means my Spanish is improving which I also love. Yesterday was the best day yet. I left my house around 8:30 because I was meeting up with BJ in his town around 10:00, I wanted to see how long it would take me to walk there. Before I left the house my host family made sure I was wearing my sun block and I had a hat. This is becoming routine! But yes I had sun block on my face and my hat in my bag, so I left. The walk to BJ’s is the same walk I make in the mornings up until the cruce, after that I take a turn that leads me to his town. I like the walk to his town better then mine, because the view of the fields is amazing, and the walk is a little more shaded and less busy as in my town.
Along the walk, an older lady came out of her house and started walking with me. She thought I was the doctor. We started talking about the weather and stuff, and she was familiar with the previous volunteers before us. We also passed some really nice houses that were coming up on the side of the road…some people here have money (for Peruvian standards). More of the houses along the road had really pretty flowers and plants outside of their houses. I just really liked it.
So somewhere along the walk I was supposed to meet up with BJ, but I was really early, so I kept walking thinking I’d find him at some point. I asked a kid where Porterillo Alta was, and he told me to keep going. After awhile I knew I was too far, so I asked an older man on his walk if he knew, and he told me I passed it a long time ago, so we walked back to find it. He was really nice, he talked to me about some of the work in the fields, and a little about the previous volunteers (everyone knows them!). By the time I made it back to the town, I knew BJ had started down the road looking for me. So I waved a moto taxi down to hitch a ride. I didn’t realize the moto taxi was full, but as I approached it, I heard the kids in there saying “gringa” “gringa”, so they made room for me. After a little while, we found BJ and I hoped out…and they didn’t want any money for the ride. It was cute!
So once I finally met up with BJ, he took for a tour of his town. We sat and chatted with some of the older men he has made friends with, and they gave us bananas and mangos. Then…we made the hike up to BJ’s house. So let me explain this situation for a minute. Porterillo, his town has two parts, the main part stretches along the road at the level of the valley, and that is called Porterillo Baja…the other part is situated in the mountains, and that is called Porterillo Alto. Originally BJ was supposed to be living in Porterillo Baja, but that family thought they were getting a girl, so once they found out he was a guy, they no longer wanted him. So the previous volunteer had to search for a new house, and he found one in Alto, unfortunately again they wanted a girl, so finally he found another house that was willing to take a guy that was situated a little higher on the side of the mountain. The walk up to his house is no joke, first it starts out as a gradual incline…and then it’s just straight up. It sucked. Basically, he makes that walk only once a day, if he comes down he doesn’t go back up until he is finished with everything he needs to do.
Once I saw his house, I realized I definitely lucked out on some things. We have a few cement floors in our house, plus a decent kitchen, and satellite TV, and doors on our rooms. All of the floors in BJ’s house are dirt, there are no doors to the room, just hanging sheets. O yeah, and we have walls, he only has adobe for walls. He also really doesn’t have a sitting area. And his mom cooks over an open fire in a little room located on the outside of the house. The advantages of his house is that his family has a really nice latrine that actually has a nice toilet, and they put in an area for him to shower the other day, similar to mine. But the best part of his house is that the view is amazing! He overlooks the entire valley and it’s beautiful, so there is at least one major plus for climbing that mountain!
Afterwards we decided to be adventurous, I had this idea from the other day when I went for a walk in the fields that there has to be a road or trail that connects his side of the valley with mine other than the roads we already know about. So we took off trying to figure that out. Along the way we found this little river where people usually take baths and wash stuff, so we took some time out too wade around in that. My feet were killing me and this river actually had soft sand at the bottom, so it felt really good, we walked around in that for awhile, and there was this little boy in his tighty whites running around with us. Like a jungle kid. On our way out there were two little girls wrapped up in towels sitting waiting for us to get out. I noticed that the little girls were naked and probably trying to take their baths. BJ was carrying conversations with them and everything, so I had to point that out. That is the weird part of this place, in the US this river would be full of kids just playing, but here kids go to the river to bath or wash clothes and stuff ( they do play while they are doing those things), but I am having to find that there is a new way of respecting these things. After that we took off towards the fields. To get there you have to cross over this bridge across the river. The bridge is like those cool bridges we used to have as kids in playground that you would jump on and it would shake and stuff, kind of scary but really fun. Well this bridge was the same.
We walked for a long time through trails through the fields. At times we stopped to take it all in , because we were out in the middle of the fields in the middle of the valley, and it suddenly changes your appreciation for everything that your doing. I always get a little more excited in those moments about where I am spending the next two years of my life. It’s amazing! We walked through corn fields with the donkeys and cows roaming around. We jumped across lots of little streams and stuff, and often I got stuck in the mud, one time I almost lost my flip flop it was so deep. It is cool, because along the walk we came across mango and banana trees, and onion field, rice fields, and other fruits we weren’t so sure about. We ended up getting ¾ way across the valley when we realized the trail ended and we didn’t know how to go any further. So we turned around and came back, that is when we noticed that we were burnt to a crisp, I had worn a tank top and my arms and neck and stuff weren’t red. I am all about getting a tan but I know better. I just forget how strong the sun is here.
I went back to the river one last time to clean off my feet and legs, and while I was there the little jungle boy was back, at first, fully clothed, and within a few minutes he had gone to a bush and got completely naked and was running around. I think he thought it was a game because he would hide behind bushes and stare at us, and then take off running without his clothes.
I decided to walk home, even though my feet were killing me (flip flops are a terrible idea here), and it was 4:30 by the time I got back home, and my feet were horrible, and I was completely burnt. I think my host mom was a little upset that I didn’t come back for lunch because she had made me something special. But I didn’t know that, and this is more of a reason for me wanting to cook for myself. I hung out with my host sisters and my host mom for awhile, and they made fun of my burnt skin and kept saying how “Moreno” (brown) I’m getting, which of course makes me happy. I found out that they are deathly afraid of frogs, which is interesting because at night the frogs are everywhere outside, I stepped on one the other night. One of the sisters asked if I like kids…and when I told her yes she told me that people steal kids and take them back to the US and get arrested. I told her that I like kids, but I don’t steal them. That was a little strange.
Also, next week we are going to go to the gigantic lake in the valley to go swimming. I asked about swimming here and the Peruvians thought I was crazy, but it gets so hot sometimes that is all I want to do. So we will have to find a spot, which wont be hard, where no one is at to be able to go swimming without them thinking were more weird then they already do. But of course I will be doing this is shorts and a tank top, because I think bathing suits are unheard of here and they would really really think I was crazy!
Today, my feet and sunburn is killing me, but I have a meeting at the health post this afternoon with the health promotes and the doctor, and BJ is coming by to work on our letter to the school to request rooms to do summer school. We decided to do it together because with our Spanish skills are lacking it’s much easier to have someone else there, so we are going to do two days of art and health classes mixed with a little English in my town, and then 2 days in his town. Since the seasons are opposite here, the kids are about to start summer and they are out of school until march, starting the week before Christmas. So it is going to be a good way to “integrate” with the community and practice some of our diagnostic skills. I am really excited about starting to do some work. This weekend I am going back to the capital city for our regional meeting and then I plan on being in my site until January. It’s going to be very weird celebrating Christmas here, but this whole experience is about being a part of a new culture and it will be new to experience another way of celebrating Christmas.
Well that’s it for now…sorry for the long entry. I’ll write again soon.
I’ve been taking my walks in the morning before it gets to hot….but a few times last week I had to meet up with BJ in the cruceta (which is the town in between ours, or really a little area where the road splits to his town and my town) and we did this in the middle of the afternoon. That walk that I enjoy so much in the mornings SUCKS in the afternoon in the hot sun. It seemed like it took me twice as long because it was just so hot, and the sun is so strong. One of the days I took my trekking book bag…that was a hike. So I think I might be more careful about doing that kind of stuff in the middle of the day.
So last week the first time that I went to meet BJ ( he is my site mate) , we were stopped by the PLAN international guys. They are our counterparts. So that was pretty exciting to meet up with them and exchange numbers. We asked about the projects they are working on and if we can help out, but most of it won’t get started again until after the holidays. So we exchanged numbers and they told us they are here to support us with whatever we need.
Thursday, my host Mom and my host sister asked if I wanted to go for a walk through the chakras (fields) we were going to take lunch to my host Dad. So I went with them, it was one of the most beautiful walks I’ve been on since we got here. It was probably a few miles, but during that time, I found out that my host family owns some land and farms it. They have corn, mangos, maricuya, and other stuff. They also raise cows to sell. So we went out there, and the few from up there is just beautiful! Afterwards, we walked further to visit the house of my host mom’s cousin. Out front of the house is this little stream that cuts through the yard. My host sister Liliana and I took off our shoes and waded through the wat
er. It was also a chance for us to talk more. I learned more about their family that lives in Lima, there are 2 siblings there. One of which is a sister Liliana is close with, but her husband won’t let her go visit. The “machismo” here is strong at times, and in certain situations is very true that the husbands run things. Although he is a nice guy, most of the time during the day he just hangs out with the drunks that come to their cantina.After the walk I got a tour of Liliana’s house. She lives next door to me. She has the cutest house…as for Peruvian standards. There were 3 bedrooms, each was adorably decorated, and the kids rooms had cute cartoons and stuff hanging on the walls, it was just so cute, and they had pictures all over the rooms. You just don’t see stuff decorated here very much. Peruvians are definitely minimalists. I also got to hold the baby Janela!!! Another interesting fact about Peruvians is that they barely ever put their kids down, babies are always in someone’s arms. But Janela has been scared of me in the past and wouldn’t let me hold her, but apparently she is getting used to me so I got to hold her. She is 10 months and just beautiful, and a really really happy baby!
Friday, BJ and I had found out that there was a health promoters meeting. These are the women who we will work closely with during out 2 years. We will train them to help with our sessions, and they will help during these first 3 months with our community diagnostics. So we decided to attend the meeting. We got there at 8 to help set up, and once that was done…we were told it was starting at 830. Well we are starting to understand what Peruvian time is all about, and we sat there for hours…until about 10-1030 when the health promoters actually started to show up…lastly…the lady running the meeting from PLAN showed up. The meeting was about early childhood stimulation, so she went through a bunch of pictures and stuff to hand around in children’s rooms to get them to start recognizing colors, animals, gender…all kinds of stuff. Well the lady went through it quickly and as soon as she was done the health promoters went crazy grabbing all of her models to trace. Since the women sat at the tables of their towns…there was definitely a little competition in the room.
Snack and Lunch time rolled around and I was asked to help pass out the food. Well….let me remind you that the people holding this meeting are health promoters…in fact it was held in the house of the lead health promoter for the valley. So when it came time to serve lunch I watched 3 of the health promoters serve pasta, chicken, salad and potatoes with their hands. They would pull the food out of the pots and put them on the plates. I know for a fact they did not wash their hands because there was no running water…and I never saw them use anything. It bothers me because I am not the first volunteer here…I am the third…and all of the volunteers have worked with these women on these exact topics…but for some reason they aren’t taking it home. It just seems like I have my work cut out for me still!
So for the weekend, BJ and I went back to Piura city to shop and meet up with one of the girls who was just getting in. I ended up buying a stove so I can start cooking my own food, because even though my host family says they want to make me skinny…they go out of control on the food, so I can’t wait to have some control over that. And as sad as it is, only being under 3 months into my 27 months of service, I have already become sick of rice. Rice comes with every meal, and it just gets old. I bought all of the stuff to help me cook, and even did a little grocery shopping. It’s really fun to shop in the big open market. They have SO much stuff and it’s so cheap, you just have to dodge the crowds and taxis. But I love browsing around there. We also had the opportunity to meet more of the volunteers who live in Piura. We have our regional meeting next week so we will be meeting everyone.
This blog post is getting extended a little further because
I didn’t post the part above yet, and now I have more to add. So this week has been great. Every day I am getting closer and closer with my host family, which I love. That also means my Spanish is improving which I also love. Yesterday was the best day yet. I left my house around 8:30 because I was meeting up with BJ in his town around 10:00, I wanted to see how long it would take me to walk there. Before I left the house my host family made sure I was wearing my sun block and I had a hat. This is becoming routine! But yes I had sun block on my face and my hat in my bag, so I left. The walk to BJ’s is the same walk I make in the mornings up until the cruce, after that I take a turn that leads me to his town. I like the walk to his town better then mine, because the view of the fields is amazing, and the walk is a little more shaded and less busy as in my town.Along the walk, an older lady came out of her house and started walking with me. She thought I was the doctor. We started talking about the weather and stuff, and she was familiar with the previous volunteers before us. We also passed some really nice houses that were coming up on the side of the road…some people here have money (for Peruvian standards). More of the houses along the road had really pretty flowers and plants outside of their houses. I just really liked it.
So somewhere along the walk I was supposed to meet up with BJ, but I was really early, so I kept walking thinking I’d find him at some point. I asked a kid where Porterillo Alta was, and he told me to keep going. After awhile I knew I was too far, so I asked an older man on his walk if he knew, and he told me I passed it a long time ago, so we walked back to find it. He was really nice, he talked to me about some of the work in the fields, and a little about the previous volunteers (everyone knows them!). By the time I made it back to the town, I knew BJ had started down the road looking for me. So I waved a moto taxi down to hitch a ride. I didn’t realize the moto taxi was full, but as I approached it, I heard the kids in there saying “gringa” “gringa”, so they made room for me. After a little while, we found BJ and I hoped out…and they didn’t want any money for the ride. It was cute!
So once I finally met up with BJ, he took for a tour of his town. We sat and chatted with some of the older men he has made friends with, and they gave us bananas and mangos. Then…we made the hike up to BJ’s house. So let me explain this situation for a minute. Porterillo, his town has two parts, the main part stretches along the road at the level of the valley, and that is called Porterillo Baja…the other part is situated in the mountains, and that is called Porterillo Alto. Originally BJ was supposed to be living in Porterillo Baja, but that family thought they were getting a girl, so once they found out he was a guy, they no longer wanted him. So the previous volunteer had to search for a new house, and he found one in Alto, unfortunately again they wanted a girl, so finally he found another house that was willing to take a guy that was situated a little higher on the side of the mountain. The walk up to his house is no joke, first it starts out as a gradual incline…and then it’s just straight up. It sucked. Basically, he makes that walk only once a day, if he comes down he doesn’t go back up until he is finished with everything he needs to do.
Once I saw his house, I realized I definitely lucked out on some things. We have a few cement floors in our house, plus a decent kitchen, and satellite TV, and doors on our rooms. All of the floors in BJ’s house are dirt, there are no doors to the room, just hanging sheets. O yeah, and we have walls, he only has adobe for walls. He also really doesn’t have a sitting area. And his mom cooks over an open fire in a little room located on the outside of the house. The advantages of his house is that his family has a really nice latrine that actually has a nice toilet, and they put in an area for him to shower the other day, similar to mine. But the best part of his house is that the view is amazing! He overlooks the entire valley and it’s beautiful, so there is at least one major plus for climbing that mountain!
Afterwards we decided to be adventurous, I had this idea from the other day when I went for a walk in the fields that there has to be a road or trail that connects his side of the valley with mine other than the roads we already know about. So we took off trying to figure that out. Along the way we found this little river where people usually take baths and wash stuff, so we took some time out too wade around in that. My feet were killing me and this river actually had soft sand at the bottom, so it felt really good, we walked around in that for awhile, and there was this little boy in his tighty whites running around with us. Like a jungle kid. On our way out there were two little girls wrapped up in towels sitting waiting for us to get out. I noticed that the little girls were naked and probably trying to take their baths. BJ was carrying conversations with them and everything, so I had to point that out. That is the weird part of this place, in the US this river would be full of kids just playing, but here kids go to the river to bath or wash clothes and stuff ( they do play while they are doing those things), but I am having to find that there is a new way of respecting these things. After that we took off towards the fields. To get there you have to cross over this bridge across the river. The bridge is like those cool bridges we used to have as kids in playground that you would jump on and it would shake and stuff, kind of scary but really fun. Well this bridge was the same.
We walked for a long time through trails through the fields. At times we stopped to take it all in , because we were out in the middle of the fields in the middle of the valley, and it suddenly changes your appreciation for everything that your doing. I always get a little more excited in those moments about where I am spending the next two years of my life. It’s amazing! We walked through corn fields with the donkeys and cows roaming around. We jumped across lots of little streams and stuff, and often I got stuck in the mud, one time I almost lost my flip flop it was so deep. It is cool, because along the walk we came across mango and banana trees, and onion field, rice fields, and other fruits we weren’t so sure about. We ended up getting ¾ way across the valley when we realized the trail ended and we didn’t know how to go any further. So we turned around and came back, that is when we noticed that we were burnt to a crisp, I had worn a tank top and my arms and neck and stuff weren’t red. I am all about getting a tan but I know better. I just forget how strong the sun is here.
I went back to the river one last time to clean off my feet and legs, and while I was there the little jungle boy was back, at first, fully clothed, and within a few minutes he had gone to a bush and got completely naked and was running around. I think he thought it was a game because he would hide behind bushes and stare at us, and then take off running without his clothes.
I decided to walk home, even though my feet were killing me (flip flops are a terrible idea here), and it was 4:30 by the time I got back home, and my feet were horrible, and I was completely burnt. I think my host mom was a little upset that I didn’t come back for lunch because she had made me something special. But I didn’t know that, and this is more of a reason for me wanting to cook for myself. I hung out with my host sisters and my host mom for awhile, and they made fun of my burnt skin and kept saying how “Moreno” (brown) I’m getting, which of course makes me happy. I found out that they are deathly afraid of frogs, which is interesting because at night the frogs are everywhere outside, I stepped on one the other night. One of the sisters asked if I like kids…and when I told her yes she told me that people steal kids and take them back to the US and get arrested. I told her that I like kids, but I don’t steal them. That was a little strange.
Also, next week we are going to go to the gigantic lake in the valley to go swimming. I asked about swimming here and the Peruvians thought I was crazy, but it gets so hot sometimes that is all I want to do. So we will have to find a spot, which wont be hard, where no one is at to be able to go swimming without them thinking were more weird then they already do. But of course I will be doing this is shorts and a tank top, because I think bathing suits are unheard of here and they would really really think I was crazy!
Today, my feet and sunburn is killing me, but I have a meeting at the health post this afternoon with the health promotes and the doctor, and BJ is coming by to work on our letter to the school to request rooms to do summer school. We decided to do it together because with our Spanish skills are lacking it’s much easier to have someone else there, so we are going to do two days of art and health classes mixed with a little English in my town, and then 2 days in his town. Since the seasons are opposite here, the kids are about to start summer and they are out of school until march, starting the week before Christmas. So it is going to be a good way to “integrate” with the community and practice some of our diagnostic skills. I am really excited about starting to do some work. This weekend I am going back to the capital city for our regional meeting and then I plan on being in my site until January. It’s going to be very weird celebrating Christmas here, but this whole experience is about being a part of a new culture and it will be new to experience another way of celebrating Christmas.
Well that’s it for now…sorry for the long entry. I’ll write again soon.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
WELCOME HOME...PIURA
We arrived in Piura city on Sunday morning. Sunday we went and ran errands, went to the market to check stuff out and change our cell phones and all that little stuff. Mostly we relaxed from an intense few days with the swearing in and traveling. We got to enjoy hot showers and comfy beds and a little TV in English. Monday afternoon we traveled to our sites. I REALLY lucked out because our regional director decided to drive us down into the valley in his SUV. Now if you could see the ridiculous amount of stuff I had and this GIANT suitcase that most people laughed at when they saw it, then you would understand the relief I had knowing that I was not going to have to ask to have that transferred between 2 buses and a taxi to get from Piura to Chipillico.
The sad part about of regional director driving us to the valley was that he was really going to deliver some not so good news to two of the communities we were to be working in. In the week after our site visits, one of my friends who was living in the valley with me decided to return to the US, she just decided this wasn’t for her. I was pretty devastated about it, I had become very close with her and was really looking forward to spending the next 2 years with her, but if anyone knows how difficult this is, we do…and I understand if it just isn’t the right time or whatever other reasons. Then, on Monday before we left, another friend of mine decided she needed to go back home too, so that was pretty devastating. Our littler group of 4 living in the valley has become 2, it’s me and BJ (or I have to start calling him William now because his community can’t say BJ). Just like mine can’t say Jillian, I am called Yillian, and have been told it would be best if I spell my name that way here too.
On our journey to our sites we first stopped in the first volunteers who left town, we had a brief meeting with her community explaining what had happened and introducing BJ and I as the new volunteers who would be there to help and support that community. The funny thing is, is that this community had requested a volunteer because the other half of the community had one in the past, and although they are the same community, they divide themselves into two parts and are EXTREMELY competitive with one another. So the first question they asked when given the opportunity was if the other community still had a volunteer, and when the answer was no they were all so happy. It was really funny to watch.
Then we went to my new house. I was very relived when I got here to find that my room now has a cement floor, so that was a big relief. However, I didn’t have a bed so we had arranged for me to borrow one from a neighbor of the previous volunteer until I can get one in 2 weeks. Also, I was really really excited to find that the family had laid a cement floor in the area when I am showering. I was thrilled because before there was just a small broken cement slab and mostly dirt and rocks. I hadn’t asked for that but was really relieved to see it.
My host sisters helped me hang all of my pictures and unpack a little. I still have to buy a dresser and a desk and other things to complete my room, so for the next few weeks I am living our of my suitcases. The really awkward part was that pretty much everything I pulled out of my bags they asked me how much it cost. Even down to the new light bulb I put in my room, because the previous was so terrible. They were fascinated by it and how much it lights things up. So I think when I return to Piura I am going to buy then a few for the house, because the very soft yellow light everywhere is annoying.
Well after all of that was done I went to read and relax for a little in my room, well at some point I feel asleep and it was when dinner was ready. So instead of knocking on my door, I wake up to the youngest sister hovering over top of me not saying a thing. It scared me to death!!! So locking my door is definitely a habit I am going to get into. Fried bananas and avocado and rice of course. It was really good!!
This morning I got up around 6:30, and decided to go for a walk. It was a little intimidating, because pretty much as soon as I walked out of my door people are staring at me. I was thinking that since there were two volunteers here before me that maybe it wouldn’t be so shocking to see a gringa, but apparently that is not true. Everywhere I went I was stared at and the men would make cat calls. They aren’t ballsy enough to do it to your face, just behind your back. I said good morning to everyone except the nasty creepy men. But I refuse to let that stuff scare me, I know this first day would be tough but I had decided to go for it anyway. This is my new home for the next 2 years and I figured I’d just go out there and do my thing. Plus, during the walk I go through the beautiful fields and it is definitely a reminder of how lucky I am to be here. I also live in the valley of Mangos, it’s just beautiful!
When I got back I got to take a shower….I got out to my little space for showering that has the giant trashcan of water and I was looking at brown water. I know it’s taken from the canal, but it’s just hard sometimes to come to grips with the fact that I am supposed to feel clean after bathing with that. But I did. And to answer the question as to whether or not I will ever feel clean here, the answer is NO. I will look forward to the weekends I get to spend in Piura city and those hot showers!
I also found out today that my host Dad is having stomach problems and he and my host Mom left early this morning to go to Ecuador to have him checked out. That is about all I could get out of that, I am not so sure why Ecuador, it is very close, but there are plenty of medical places here. I will just have to ask those questions later.
Well I’m off to explore for a little bit. Sorry these blog posts don’t have pictures the internet is REALLY slow here and it would take hours probably to put up a few, so they will have to wait until I get back to the city.
The sad part about of regional director driving us to the valley was that he was really going to deliver some not so good news to two of the communities we were to be working in. In the week after our site visits, one of my friends who was living in the valley with me decided to return to the US, she just decided this wasn’t for her. I was pretty devastated about it, I had become very close with her and was really looking forward to spending the next 2 years with her, but if anyone knows how difficult this is, we do…and I understand if it just isn’t the right time or whatever other reasons. Then, on Monday before we left, another friend of mine decided she needed to go back home too, so that was pretty devastating. Our littler group of 4 living in the valley has become 2, it’s me and BJ (or I have to start calling him William now because his community can’t say BJ). Just like mine can’t say Jillian, I am called Yillian, and have been told it would be best if I spell my name that way here too.
On our journey to our sites we first stopped in the first volunteers who left town, we had a brief meeting with her community explaining what had happened and introducing BJ and I as the new volunteers who would be there to help and support that community. The funny thing is, is that this community had requested a volunteer because the other half of the community had one in the past, and although they are the same community, they divide themselves into two parts and are EXTREMELY competitive with one another. So the first question they asked when given the opportunity was if the other community still had a volunteer, and when the answer was no they were all so happy. It was really funny to watch.
Then we went to my new house. I was very relived when I got here to find that my room now has a cement floor, so that was a big relief. However, I didn’t have a bed so we had arranged for me to borrow one from a neighbor of the previous volunteer until I can get one in 2 weeks. Also, I was really really excited to find that the family had laid a cement floor in the area when I am showering. I was thrilled because before there was just a small broken cement slab and mostly dirt and rocks. I hadn’t asked for that but was really relieved to see it.
My host sisters helped me hang all of my pictures and unpack a little. I still have to buy a dresser and a desk and other things to complete my room, so for the next few weeks I am living our of my suitcases. The really awkward part was that pretty much everything I pulled out of my bags they asked me how much it cost. Even down to the new light bulb I put in my room, because the previous was so terrible. They were fascinated by it and how much it lights things up. So I think when I return to Piura I am going to buy then a few for the house, because the very soft yellow light everywhere is annoying.
Well after all of that was done I went to read and relax for a little in my room, well at some point I feel asleep and it was when dinner was ready. So instead of knocking on my door, I wake up to the youngest sister hovering over top of me not saying a thing. It scared me to death!!! So locking my door is definitely a habit I am going to get into. Fried bananas and avocado and rice of course. It was really good!!
This morning I got up around 6:30, and decided to go for a walk. It was a little intimidating, because pretty much as soon as I walked out of my door people are staring at me. I was thinking that since there were two volunteers here before me that maybe it wouldn’t be so shocking to see a gringa, but apparently that is not true. Everywhere I went I was stared at and the men would make cat calls. They aren’t ballsy enough to do it to your face, just behind your back. I said good morning to everyone except the nasty creepy men. But I refuse to let that stuff scare me, I know this first day would be tough but I had decided to go for it anyway. This is my new home for the next 2 years and I figured I’d just go out there and do my thing. Plus, during the walk I go through the beautiful fields and it is definitely a reminder of how lucky I am to be here. I also live in the valley of Mangos, it’s just beautiful!
When I got back I got to take a shower….I got out to my little space for showering that has the giant trashcan of water and I was looking at brown water. I know it’s taken from the canal, but it’s just hard sometimes to come to grips with the fact that I am supposed to feel clean after bathing with that. But I did. And to answer the question as to whether or not I will ever feel clean here, the answer is NO. I will look forward to the weekends I get to spend in Piura city and those hot showers!
I also found out today that my host Dad is having stomach problems and he and my host Mom left early this morning to go to Ecuador to have him checked out. That is about all I could get out of that, I am not so sure why Ecuador, it is very close, but there are plenty of medical places here. I will just have to ask those questions later.
Well I’m off to explore for a little bit. Sorry these blog posts don’t have pictures the internet is REALLY slow here and it would take hours probably to put up a few, so they will have to wait until I get back to the city.
SWEARING IN
So I am an OFFICIAL peace corps volunteer now, I’m not longer a trainee. That was a really exciting day. It has been a very intense 10 weeks of cramming in all the practical stuff as to how we are going to do our work in our new communities. Plus, very long and exhausting hours of Spanish class. I was mostly nervous about my Spanish, because I’ve been in the lowest level Spanish class for awhile, but fortunately, I improved enough to move up to the Intermediate Medium group which allowed me to “graduate”!! So I was very excited!!
Swearing in was a really nice day. On the morning of November 26th we went to the other training center. Which I may have mentioned before, I am a part of Peru 16, I am in the health program, but along with the health program there is water and sanitation and environmental groups that make up the 72 of us in Peru 16. The other 2 groups train at a center about a half hour away from where I’ve been training. Their center is beautiful, it’s all open, very tropical, you feel like your in the jungle. It was a beautiful place for our swearing in. That day we got Peruvian tacos which were delicious and we did a few last minute odds and ends. And of course we got all dressed up! And in the afternoon I swore in.
The US Ambassador for Peru came, and she was the person who read our oath. The oath is the same oath that the US military takes as well as federal government employees. It made me feel really official. All of the important Peace Corps people who have helped us along the way were there, as well as the Peru Peace Corps director, and even our host families. The entire day was very surreal, it is so hard to believe how far I have come, and some days it’s hard to believe I am even here. So I was very proud to have made it this far, and to be a part of something so huge.
The rest of the day was filled with crazy emotions. Swearing in isn’t only the passage way into the Peace Corp, it is also the door that closes a chapter of this journey. All of us volunteers were congratulating each other but also starting to say our goodbye because we are all being scattered across the country, and it could be months to a year that we are going to see each other again.
The festivities weren’t over with the swearing in, later that night after running home and trying to get myself packed, I went out with the other volunteers in Chosica. There was a little cantina with an second floor that had decent music so most of Peru 16 was there enjoying our last night together. Which my host Mom explained to me later that cantina’s in Peru are known for alcoholic men sitting and drinking their sorrows away, and discotecas are for dancing. So there really isn’t an in-between here, so us Americans turned that little cantina in our own bar/club. It was my first time going out with everyone since I’ve been here….it was also my first time enjoying a BOX of sangria. We danced a lot, some drank a lot, but it was a really great last night. Again, the end was the hardest we all had to say our real goodbyes and there were lots of tears….which could have been contributed to the drinking, but all in all it was difficult.
The following day, Saturday, meant it was time to get packed and at 6:00 I had a bus that was going to be taking me to Piura. So decided to spend the day with my host family, we watched a video they had made of my little host sisters birthday party I attended my second week here. It was funny and embarrassing to watch me try and speak Spanish back then. They also had their first volunteer call me (she just finished up her 2 years) and she gave me some encouraging words as I was about to start my service. We also went to visit all of their relatives in the neighborhood and they give me little gifts and nice words to send me off. It was so sweet!
Later that day the taxi came to take me away and that was really difficult for me. I have gotten so attached to that family. They have become such a huge part of my life, and when I came to this country and didn’t know a thing or how to communicate with anyone they helped me with it all. Plus, I believe they generally really cared about me too, I have been told the door is always open and to call all the time. Plus….the asked me to be the godmother for their son’s first holy communion next November and I am REALLY excited about that, so I will be going back many times to visit them. So I am happy to know that I will be seeing them again, but at the same time I wish I could have taken them with me and lived with them for the next to years. So when I gave my final goodbyes I was very very teary.
Later that night, we got on the bus to go to Piura, the Peace Corps splurged on our last bus trip from Lima, we got the 180 beds, which means we all had our little cubicles in pairs with a TV and very very comfy chairs that turn into beds. However, stupid me and the guy I was sitting with didn’t realize that the part where our feet rested raised up to make the bed, so the next morning when we discovered that we were pissed!! That would have been a way better 16 hour bus ride with our feet up!
Swearing in was a really nice day. On the morning of November 26th we went to the other training center. Which I may have mentioned before, I am a part of Peru 16, I am in the health program, but along with the health program there is water and sanitation and environmental groups that make up the 72 of us in Peru 16. The other 2 groups train at a center about a half hour away from where I’ve been training. Their center is beautiful, it’s all open, very tropical, you feel like your in the jungle. It was a beautiful place for our swearing in. That day we got Peruvian tacos which were delicious and we did a few last minute odds and ends. And of course we got all dressed up! And in the afternoon I swore in.
The US Ambassador for Peru came, and she was the person who read our oath. The oath is the same oath that the US military takes as well as federal government employees. It made me feel really official. All of the important Peace Corps people who have helped us along the way were there, as well as the Peru Peace Corps director, and even our host families. The entire day was very surreal, it is so hard to believe how far I have come, and some days it’s hard to believe I am even here. So I was very proud to have made it this far, and to be a part of something so huge.
The rest of the day was filled with crazy emotions. Swearing in isn’t only the passage way into the Peace Corp, it is also the door that closes a chapter of this journey. All of us volunteers were congratulating each other but also starting to say our goodbye because we are all being scattered across the country, and it could be months to a year that we are going to see each other again.
The festivities weren’t over with the swearing in, later that night after running home and trying to get myself packed, I went out with the other volunteers in Chosica. There was a little cantina with an second floor that had decent music so most of Peru 16 was there enjoying our last night together. Which my host Mom explained to me later that cantina’s in Peru are known for alcoholic men sitting and drinking their sorrows away, and discotecas are for dancing. So there really isn’t an in-between here, so us Americans turned that little cantina in our own bar/club. It was my first time going out with everyone since I’ve been here….it was also my first time enjoying a BOX of sangria. We danced a lot, some drank a lot, but it was a really great last night. Again, the end was the hardest we all had to say our real goodbyes and there were lots of tears….which could have been contributed to the drinking, but all in all it was difficult.
The following day, Saturday, meant it was time to get packed and at 6:00 I had a bus that was going to be taking me to Piura. So decided to spend the day with my host family, we watched a video they had made of my little host sisters birthday party I attended my second week here. It was funny and embarrassing to watch me try and speak Spanish back then. They also had their first volunteer call me (she just finished up her 2 years) and she gave me some encouraging words as I was about to start my service. We also went to visit all of their relatives in the neighborhood and they give me little gifts and nice words to send me off. It was so sweet!
Later that day the taxi came to take me away and that was really difficult for me. I have gotten so attached to that family. They have become such a huge part of my life, and when I came to this country and didn’t know a thing or how to communicate with anyone they helped me with it all. Plus, I believe they generally really cared about me too, I have been told the door is always open and to call all the time. Plus….the asked me to be the godmother for their son’s first holy communion next November and I am REALLY excited about that, so I will be going back many times to visit them. So I am happy to know that I will be seeing them again, but at the same time I wish I could have taken them with me and lived with them for the next to years. So when I gave my final goodbyes I was very very teary.
Later that night, we got on the bus to go to Piura, the Peace Corps splurged on our last bus trip from Lima, we got the 180 beds, which means we all had our little cubicles in pairs with a TV and very very comfy chairs that turn into beds. However, stupid me and the guy I was sitting with didn’t realize that the part where our feet rested raised up to make the bed, so the next morning when we discovered that we were pissed!! That would have been a way better 16 hour bus ride with our feet up!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
So it's the night before thanksgiving, and I am not going to lie I'm a little bit sad. Although I've had a few thanksgivings when my family was incomplete, it's definitely a different feeling to be the one away. I know a little how Alex feels. The good part is that there aren't any reminders of thanksgiving here since obviously they do not celebrate it. But...as for Christmas, those reminders are popping up everywhere. When I got home from training yesterday my host family had set up their small Christmas tree and navity scene and strung lights in the house. Apparently Christmas trees are a new concept in Peru, they have picked this idea up from watching a lot of movies and seeing what we do in the U.S. Normally they only have large nativity scenes decorating their house. They also celebrate christmas on christmas eve with large parties, and at midnight they have a gigantic dinner. So that will be interesting at my new site. Also, they don't do gifts, which I am happy about because I think that tradition has gotten out of control in the U.S. The only people who recieve gifts are children and it's usually sweets.
So this is the big week...it's WEEK 10 my last week of training. It's very bitter sweet. I passed my spanish exam and am up to par on the level I need to be at to be able to advance to my site. To celebrate our spanish teachers set up a party with snacks and karaoke...it was SO much fun!!! We have also had many little exams. Today we had "situational" training, where we went to 7 stations and practiced practical situations we will encounter at site, we had to pass the stations or repeat. My biggest problem was safe transportation, I failed that station twice before passing. The first time I was in a combi and didn't secure my things enough and one of the security guys came by and snatched me jacket and ran away. The second time, I was in a taxi and I did like they told us, I called a friend before and read the liscense plate numbers and told her I'd be there in 20 minutes, and then I got in the taxi and it was a station wagon, well within a few minutes a guy wrapped his arm around my neck from behind me. I screamed and jumped out of the taxi, all of the trainers were standing around laughing, that should have been my first cue when I saw them there, but stupid me didn't think!!! So again I failed for not checking the trunk of the taxi. It was hilarious!! And on the last time I guess I did everything right and passed.
Tonight my host family took me for my "despidida" which was a mini going away party. We went to the bakery and had cake and inca kola. It was fun. When I said that this swearing in stuff was bitter sweet, leaving my host family is definitely the bitter part. I have really grown to love them and wish I could live with them for my entire 2 years. My host mom is amazing and has taught me so much and they have been the most welcoming and wonderful people I have ever met. I started my first week here in tears and scared to death. Now I end each day with them and look forward to our talks and joking around. They are just wonderful people and I think this experience was made much easier being here with them.
So tomorrow for Thanksgiving we are having our thank you party for our host families, some of the volunteers are preforming various activities and we'll have snacks and stuff for the families. I helped paint some of the ornaments we are giving away as our thank you gift. Then on Friday I swear in, which is a big event! I will officially become a volunteer and I can start the countdown for the next two years of my service. Saturday I move to my new site, well really I'll get there Tuesday or so, we've got a few days of stuff to do in the capital city before we settle in to our new sites. I am nervous and excited. I can't wait to get my life set up there.
For Thanksgiving, even though I cannot celebrate with my family, they are absolutely in my heart. I think this year more then ever I have so much to be thankful for. I am most thankful for my family above all, for their support through my many challenges and just standing behind my while I take this adventure. I could not and would not being doing this if they weren't amazing. Secondly I am thankful for all of the priveleges I've been given in life from my family or simply because I'm an American. Having this opportunity to see how another part of the world lives makes me so thankful for the way I was raised and the opportunites I've had in life. And thank you to all of my friends for the great emails and letters, you've made me laugh many times and lifted my spirits when I needed it. I know that I will never have as great of friendships no matter where I am in the world like I do with all of you.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I love you and miss you and hope that you have a wonderful day! I'll be thinking of you. And family please eat some hand and pretzel jello salad for me!
So this is the big week...it's WEEK 10 my last week of training. It's very bitter sweet. I passed my spanish exam and am up to par on the level I need to be at to be able to advance to my site. To celebrate our spanish teachers set up a party with snacks and karaoke...it was SO much fun!!! We have also had many little exams. Today we had "situational" training, where we went to 7 stations and practiced practical situations we will encounter at site, we had to pass the stations or repeat. My biggest problem was safe transportation, I failed that station twice before passing. The first time I was in a combi and didn't secure my things enough and one of the security guys came by and snatched me jacket and ran away. The second time, I was in a taxi and I did like they told us, I called a friend before and read the liscense plate numbers and told her I'd be there in 20 minutes, and then I got in the taxi and it was a station wagon, well within a few minutes a guy wrapped his arm around my neck from behind me. I screamed and jumped out of the taxi, all of the trainers were standing around laughing, that should have been my first cue when I saw them there, but stupid me didn't think!!! So again I failed for not checking the trunk of the taxi. It was hilarious!! And on the last time I guess I did everything right and passed.
Tonight my host family took me for my "despidida" which was a mini going away party. We went to the bakery and had cake and inca kola. It was fun. When I said that this swearing in stuff was bitter sweet, leaving my host family is definitely the bitter part. I have really grown to love them and wish I could live with them for my entire 2 years. My host mom is amazing and has taught me so much and they have been the most welcoming and wonderful people I have ever met. I started my first week here in tears and scared to death. Now I end each day with them and look forward to our talks and joking around. They are just wonderful people and I think this experience was made much easier being here with them.
So tomorrow for Thanksgiving we are having our thank you party for our host families, some of the volunteers are preforming various activities and we'll have snacks and stuff for the families. I helped paint some of the ornaments we are giving away as our thank you gift. Then on Friday I swear in, which is a big event! I will officially become a volunteer and I can start the countdown for the next two years of my service. Saturday I move to my new site, well really I'll get there Tuesday or so, we've got a few days of stuff to do in the capital city before we settle in to our new sites. I am nervous and excited. I can't wait to get my life set up there.
For Thanksgiving, even though I cannot celebrate with my family, they are absolutely in my heart. I think this year more then ever I have so much to be thankful for. I am most thankful for my family above all, for their support through my many challenges and just standing behind my while I take this adventure. I could not and would not being doing this if they weren't amazing. Secondly I am thankful for all of the priveleges I've been given in life from my family or simply because I'm an American. Having this opportunity to see how another part of the world lives makes me so thankful for the way I was raised and the opportunites I've had in life. And thank you to all of my friends for the great emails and letters, you've made me laugh many times and lifted my spirits when I needed it. I know that I will never have as great of friendships no matter where I am in the world like I do with all of you.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I love you and miss you and hope that you have a wonderful day! I'll be thinking of you. And family please eat some hand and pretzel jello salad for me!
Friday, November 12, 2010
WELCOME TO THE PEACE CORP!
What a trip!!! That is all I have to say...and I got my first taste of what this whole peace corp thing is all about...and WOW my life is about to change drastically. We went to Piura to continue some field based training and then to visit our sites. The first part of our trip was in the mountains of Piura...aka Piura Alta. We went to a small mountain town where two volunteers lived, called Sicchez. It was about 6 hours or so from the capital of Piura...Piura. I liked these mountains better then Ancash because they were lush and tropical and the weather was beautiful. We stayed in a hostal that we also called...the orphanage. It was a room, with creeky wood floors, and beds with hard lumpy straw mattresses...and t
hat was it. However, the hostal did have a luke warm shower and a toliet. In Sicchez we visited the Health center and made mobiles with the moms for their babies, we worked in a garden, built a water filter, and trained some health promoters. It was a good trip. We were there for about 3 days. On the final day, we were really excited to get back to Piura to stay in a nice hostal, eat a good dinner, and take hot showers.
Well...while our drivers were waiting for us, they decided to go get wasted. So our staff member who was with us determined this was incredibly unsafe. We were in the mountains and to get down you travel down windy dirt/gravel roads on cliffs. We were sitting in the van when we got the news and one of the drivers with his red, glazed over eyes, and slurred words, got in the car to tell us he was fine. RIGHT! So after awhile, the drivers finally agreed to let our staff member drive us down the mountain, so we were able to get to Piura.
Once we got to Piura, we stayed in the "Peace Corp" designated hostal, which has an awesome library of books that previous volunteers have collected...so now i´m not so worried about running out of books, they also have collected an awesome DVD collection too. We had a day to explore Piura. I really like this city, it reminds me of a mini Lima, I can get just about all the essentials there, and I am allowed to visit it twice a month. We had another great pizza dinner, and there was a really good hamburger place too. It´s a cute city...as far as cities go in Peru.
Let me preface the next part with letting you know, that it turns out I had been given the wrong folder of in
formation regarding my new city and family. On the first days of our trip, me and another volunteer came to find out that our family and community information was switched. I was actually being sent to a larger community of 1500 people and to a different family then what I had orginally recieved. This was surprising, but since I hadn't met the family or seen the community yet it really didn't matter.
On Tuesday, we had a day to meet our socios..which are our community partners. From my community the doctor and a health promoter came, they were great. But it was an akward day, because not knowing a ton of spanish made it difficult to communicate, but it was good to get to start placing these people in my new community. Wednesday morning we hopped on a bus to come to my new town. There are four of us who live here. We are about 3 hours from Piura, but live really close to Las Lomas, which is a good city with a lot of amentities. I live in a valley. Although my town is dusty, I am surrounded by lush mountains and beautiful beautiful fields of crops. It´s gorgeous!
When I got to my new town I was hustled to the school where they had a "Bienvenidos" party for me. The kids had made american flags and they had signs welcoming me to their school. It was adorable. The community leaders came and there were lots of speeches, and the kids performed a few traditional dances...but the little ones danced to a song from Grease...it was ADORABLE! Then, I had to make a speech...which was interesting....
Afterward, we went back to my new host families house for a lunch with all the community leaders. I kinda got to check out my house a little more which was nice. I have a small room with a dirt floor, and a window that looks out into a common area of the house. I have a latrine...yes...a hole in the ground where I use the bathroom...
.and a shower which consists of a giant trashcan with canal water and a container to pour it over my head. And this is all outside with the chickens, turkeys, pigs, and donkeys. Literally I have to shoo the turkeys out of my way when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, which at night is covered in cochroaches. I am going to have to get some RAID! I also found out that in order to do my laundry, I will have to go to the canal and wash my clothes there. This is an adventure! I did however, leave money for the family to put in a cement floor in my room, because the peace corp does recommend it for health reasons, so when I return I should have a cement
floor, and then I plan on painting the walls. So it will be very exciting to make it all my own. I have also asked my parents to send me a solar shower, which will making taking a shower much easier.
So during my visit, Lindsey, the volunteer I will be replacing took me all over the town to meet all kinds of people that I will be working with. We visited the Health Post, the Muncipality buidling, we went to several stores so I could see where to buy things. We also attended a meeting for a mother's club that I will be working with. We walked all over the place, it is so beautiful. The pictures I post here DO NOT do it justice, because I didn't get any pictures of the green valley, the town is rough looking but everything surrounding it is gorgeous.
So let me tell you all about my family...my new parents (Santos and Paola) are the same age as my real parents. But I have 6 siblings that live near me, but 9 in total. The 6 include 2 brothers and 4 sisters.
I think the oldest brother is around 30, the second is 28 then a sister who is 27 Betty, 25 Liliana, 21 Mirta, and 12 Milena. All the older siblings are married with kids, and the 27 and 25 year old sister live next door, and both have the cutest babies in the world. One of the babies, Janella, is 10 months, and she is beautiful, her middle name is also Beyonce...and yes it's after the singer. Betty has a 2 month year old son I believe is named Ictor...but the names are really hard for me. There are many more kids...but I can't remember their names. Ictor had a baptism while I visited. Apparently there are two parts of a baptism. The first part
takes place in the house, and that is when the godparents bless the baby by washing water over the babies head with a leaf and saying the hail mary and our father prayers. Then, afterward they have a GIGANTIC dinner, which consists of literally a CASSEROLE dish of food for each godparent. This dinner was the TRIFECTA of peruvian carbs...rice...pasta..potatoes...and of course chicken. I ended up VERY sick after this dinner. And I went with my host sister to get the chicken, we chased it around her friends yard until they caught it, then carried the live chicken home, which they later killed and we ate for dinner.
So after the baptism and dinner, the drinking begins. Drinking in Peru is different then in the states. Basically, you buy 40's and have one glass. You pour yourself a glass, drink it, throw the last sip on the floor, and then pass the bottle and the glass to the next person. Thenthey do the same thing. So you share the same glass with everyone there. Well, I saw that my host family had 3 beers, so stupid me assumed the party was over after those 3 beers, but no...when it came time to finish the third one, one of the husbands came in with a crate of 12 more forties. I personally have decided that I am not going to be drinking while I am here, at least not in any settings in my community. My host family was a little weirded out by this, but that is okay, I'm fine with being the weird American. So anyway, I went to bed and didn't participate...I was exhausted.
The following day I spent with Lindsey, learning more about the community and hanging out at her host families house, which are amazing people. I see myself spending a lot of time with them in the beginning because they have dealt with 2 volunteers and have a little better understanding of how hard the adjustment can be, and simply just speaking to me. My host family talks so incredibly fast I can't catch anything, and when I ask them to repeat things, they just say it louder..not slower!
After the 3 days, we went back to Piura, and were reunited with the rest of the group and I got to hear about everyone's adventures with their new host families. There were some funny stories, one of the guys woke up to a goat in their room, another friend of mine who is black found that on the beginning of the trip people were fascinated by her, at one point we were in the street and a woman came up to her and told her how beautiful she was and asked to touch her hand. At that time we just thought it was a wonderful compliment, however, after her site visit, she found out that they believe black people are good luck, so they just want to touch her all the time. (Peruvians in certain areas are not exposed to many different races if any at all).
After all of this, we made the 15 hour bus trip home to Lima, I was glad to be back with this host family, they were so excited to have me back too. I have 2 weeks until graduation and then I'll return to my site permanently.
I really thought that this site visit would make me so much more nervous about starting my service. There are so many things I am not used too, like the latrine, washing my clothes in the canal, almost no internet and phone service. But surprisingly, the visit made me really excited. I think some of the adjustments will be difficult, but when I look at overall how this experience is going to change me life, I only see the postive. I have a lot of faith in the community I am going to be working with. I am the third volunteer there, and the previous two have had a lot of success and the community really seems to embrace them. So wish me luck!
For anyone who doesn't have facebook here are the links for my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2148516&id=38005919&l=fe5b6e684e
hat was it. However, the hostal did have a luke warm shower and a toliet. In Sicchez we visited the Health center and made mobiles with the moms for their babies, we worked in a garden, built a water filter, and trained some health promoters. It was a good trip. We were there for about 3 days. On the final day, we were really excited to get back to Piura to stay in a nice hostal, eat a good dinner, and take hot showers.Well...while our drivers were waiting for us, they decided to go get wasted. So our staff member who was with us determined this was incredibly unsafe. We were in the mountains and to get down you travel down windy dirt/gravel roads on cliffs. We were sitting in the van when we got the news and one of the drivers with his red, glazed over eyes, and slurred words, got in the car to tell us he was fine. RIGHT! So after awhile, the drivers finally agreed to let our staff member drive us down the mountain, so we were able to get to Piura.
Once we got to Piura, we stayed in the "Peace Corp" designated hostal, which has an awesome library of books that previous volunteers have collected...so now i´m not so worried about running out of books, they also have collected an awesome DVD collection too. We had a day to explore Piura. I really like this city, it reminds me of a mini Lima, I can get just about all the essentials there, and I am allowed to visit it twice a month. We had another great pizza dinner, and there was a really good hamburger place too. It´s a cute city...as far as cities go in Peru.
Let me preface the next part with letting you know, that it turns out I had been given the wrong folder of in
formation regarding my new city and family. On the first days of our trip, me and another volunteer came to find out that our family and community information was switched. I was actually being sent to a larger community of 1500 people and to a different family then what I had orginally recieved. This was surprising, but since I hadn't met the family or seen the community yet it really didn't matter.On Tuesday, we had a day to meet our socios..which are our community partners. From my community the doctor and a health promoter came, they were great. But it was an akward day, because not knowing a ton of spanish made it difficult to communicate, but it was good to get to start placing these people in my new community. Wednesday morning we hopped on a bus to come to my new town. There are four of us who live here. We are about 3 hours from Piura, but live really close to Las Lomas, which is a good city with a lot of amentities. I live in a valley. Although my town is dusty, I am surrounded by lush mountains and beautiful beautiful fields of crops. It´s gorgeous!
When I got to my new town I was hustled to the school where they had a "Bienvenidos" party for me. The kids had made american flags and they had signs welcoming me to their school. It was adorable. The community leaders came and there were lots of speeches, and the kids performed a few traditional dances...but the little ones danced to a song from Grease...it was ADORABLE! Then, I had to make a speech...which was interesting....
Afterward, we went back to my new host families house for a lunch with all the community leaders. I kinda got to check out my house a little more which was nice. I have a small room with a dirt floor, and a window that looks out into a common area of the house. I have a latrine...yes...a hole in the ground where I use the bathroom...
.and a shower which consists of a giant trashcan with canal water and a container to pour it over my head. And this is all outside with the chickens, turkeys, pigs, and donkeys. Literally I have to shoo the turkeys out of my way when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, which at night is covered in cochroaches. I am going to have to get some RAID! I also found out that in order to do my laundry, I will have to go to the canal and wash my clothes there. This is an adventure! I did however, leave money for the family to put in a cement floor in my room, because the peace corp does recommend it for health reasons, so when I return I should have a cement
floor, and then I plan on painting the walls. So it will be very exciting to make it all my own. I have also asked my parents to send me a solar shower, which will making taking a shower much easier.So during my visit, Lindsey, the volunteer I will be replacing took me all over the town to meet all kinds of people that I will be working with. We visited the Health Post, the Muncipality buidling, we went to several stores so I could see where to buy things. We also attended a meeting for a mother's club that I will be working with. We walked all over the place, it is so beautiful. The pictures I post here DO NOT do it justice, because I didn't get any pictures of the green valley, the town is rough looking but everything surrounding it is gorgeous.
So let me tell you all about my family...my new parents (Santos and Paola) are the same age as my real parents. But I have 6 siblings that live near me, but 9 in total. The 6 include 2 brothers and 4 sisters.
I think the oldest brother is around 30, the second is 28 then a sister who is 27 Betty, 25 Liliana, 21 Mirta, and 12 Milena. All the older siblings are married with kids, and the 27 and 25 year old sister live next door, and both have the cutest babies in the world. One of the babies, Janella, is 10 months, and she is beautiful, her middle name is also Beyonce...and yes it's after the singer. Betty has a 2 month year old son I believe is named Ictor...but the names are really hard for me. There are many more kids...but I can't remember their names. Ictor had a baptism while I visited. Apparently there are two parts of a baptism. The first part
takes place in the house, and that is when the godparents bless the baby by washing water over the babies head with a leaf and saying the hail mary and our father prayers. Then, afterward they have a GIGANTIC dinner, which consists of literally a CASSEROLE dish of food for each godparent. This dinner was the TRIFECTA of peruvian carbs...rice...pasta..potatoes...and of course chicken. I ended up VERY sick after this dinner. And I went with my host sister to get the chicken, we chased it around her friends yard until they caught it, then carried the live chicken home, which they later killed and we ate for dinner.So after the baptism and dinner, the drinking begins. Drinking in Peru is different then in the states. Basically, you buy 40's and have one glass. You pour yourself a glass, drink it, throw the last sip on the floor, and then pass the bottle and the glass to the next person. Thenthey do the same thing. So you share the same glass with everyone there. Well, I saw that my host family had 3 beers, so stupid me assumed the party was over after those 3 beers, but no...when it came time to finish the third one, one of the husbands came in with a crate of 12 more forties. I personally have decided that I am not going to be drinking while I am here, at least not in any settings in my community. My host family was a little weirded out by this, but that is okay, I'm fine with being the weird American. So anyway, I went to bed and didn't participate...I was exhausted.
The following day I spent with Lindsey, learning more about the community and hanging out at her host families house, which are amazing people. I see myself spending a lot of time with them in the beginning because they have dealt with 2 volunteers and have a little better understanding of how hard the adjustment can be, and simply just speaking to me. My host family talks so incredibly fast I can't catch anything, and when I ask them to repeat things, they just say it louder..not slower!
After the 3 days, we went back to Piura, and were reunited with the rest of the group and I got to hear about everyone's adventures with their new host families. There were some funny stories, one of the guys woke up to a goat in their room, another friend of mine who is black found that on the beginning of the trip people were fascinated by her, at one point we were in the street and a woman came up to her and told her how beautiful she was and asked to touch her hand. At that time we just thought it was a wonderful compliment, however, after her site visit, she found out that they believe black people are good luck, so they just want to touch her all the time. (Peruvians in certain areas are not exposed to many different races if any at all).
After all of this, we made the 15 hour bus trip home to Lima, I was glad to be back with this host family, they were so excited to have me back too. I have 2 weeks until graduation and then I'll return to my site permanently.
I really thought that this site visit would make me so much more nervous about starting my service. There are so many things I am not used too, like the latrine, washing my clothes in the canal, almost no internet and phone service. But surprisingly, the visit made me really excited. I think some of the adjustments will be difficult, but when I look at overall how this experience is going to change me life, I only see the postive. I have a lot of faith in the community I am going to be working with. I am the third volunteer there, and the previous two have had a lot of success and the community really seems to embrace them. So wish me luck!
For anyone who doesn't have facebook here are the links for my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2148516&id=38005919&l=fe5b6e684e
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
PIURA PIURA PIURA
So I got my site assignment today after months of anticipation, excitement and nerves, and I am going to the department of Peru, this is one of the most northern departments of Peru, it's a coastal department and much of it borders Equador. I will be living in the district of Las Lomas in a small rural town of only about 500 people called Pampa Elera Alta. I actually got a little profile on my new host family today. Weirdest part is that I am older then my new host Mom, she is only 24, the husband is 33 and there are two sons one is 6 and the other is 2, so that is going to be so much fun. Now here is where I have suddenly gotten nervous, we don't have running water, we will be using the water from a nearby canal for cooking, bathing, and washing clothes. Fortunately I've been trained on how to treat the water so it's safe for drinking, but it makes me realize how lucky I am in my current host family situation. Also, no bathroom, I will be using a Latrine and continuing to take bucket baths. Great news.....I live within a few mile radius of 3 other volunteers, so I'm really excited about that too, I was worried about being isolated in a rural area. Also, great news, there is an international airport only 2 1/2 hours away...so start planning trips, the beaches in my region are amazing!!!!
So tomorrow I leave for the next 10 days to train in my new site, I'm a replacement volunteer, so there has already been a volunteer in my town working, so I'm excited about that too to see what she has done and get her advice.
We just got back from a trip to Ancash, which is a region in the Andes mountains. That was a really interesting trip. It was about an 8 hour bus ride to the capital city Huaraz, and we didn't spend much time there at first, we traveled about another 3 hours to a small town in the mountains called Chavin. Now transportation in Peru is a scary situation as I've mentioned before. Just imagine those crazy buses now traveling on dirt/rock/gravel roads at high altitudes on the edges of mountains. I was gripping my seat the entire time, I never once felt comfortable during out travel time, it was horrible! I felt many times that my life was going to end in a Peruvian bus that drove off the cliff...it was scary and I have a tremendous fear of heights on top of it.
Once we got to Chavin, we stayed in a hostal with HOT showers and TV....with one english channel. It was great! Another thing I need to mention is that altitude sickness is no joke, we were given pills ahead of time to take and I did. But once we got into the mountains I started having this weird tingling in my feet and hands that came and went the entire trip, and for the first few days I just had general malaise, but once I ran out of pills it got worse. I missed two days of activities due to some of the symtoms related to altitude sickness that I won't mention here.
The point of this trip was to do field based training, which is learning some of the stuff we will need to do in our new sites. So the first day we went and learned about health promotes and forming a youth group. So we went to a school and worked with kids and painted a mural. The following day, we went to build latrines for families who needed them...I missed this day because I was really sick. Then saturday we went to a town and interviewd women who had recieved these improved cooking stoves called "cocinas mejoradas"...they are an adobe brick built raised cooking stove that has a chimney that moves the smoke outdoors, because before the women would cook over an open flame on the floor of their kitchens. The smoke was hurting their lungs as well as their backs, and the same for the rest of the families. So after attending 8-10 information sessions put on by the volunteer these households were provided with materials from a peace corp grant to build these improved cooking stoves. So we went to interview these mothers about information pertaining to health as well as see if they were using their new stoves.
Now to preface how these interviews went, I have to tell you about the people who live in the mountains. They are very very traditional and conservative, their way of life as well as their clothing is different then other parts of Peru. Many of them do not speak spanish, they speak another language known as Quechua. So the women we interviewed were very timid. Unfortunately the women couldn't tell us much information in regards to health, for example they were unsure about balanced diets and hygiene. I actually felt uncomfortable asking them many of the questions because they were so shy, I felt like I was intruding and that it must be very intimidating for them. However, this was all apart of their agreement for recieving the "cocina mejorada".
After the interviews, we went and actually built a cocina mejorada. The family is usually required to build the first part, and then we come in and build the level where the stove is going to be. To do this, we use adobe bricks and this weird mud mix that contains: horse and donkey feces, salt, sugar, cactus water and broken glass. So after we put all that together we finished it up with the stove top, and after a fews days of drying the family can add the chimney and use it. The mother of the house came and saw it when we were finished and seemed really excited which was great!!
After we left Chavin, we returned to Huarez for our last night in Ancash, we all ended up finding this little pizza place. It was a really cute hole in the wall kinda place that was decorated with international flags and played american 80's music and classic rock. It was so much fun. There was a guy in there who asked me to take a picture of his table, so once I did he realized I was American and he was as well, he was from Lousiana, so that was kinda cool!
For our very last day in Ancash we traveled up another mountain to go to a team-building retreat scariest mountain of them all was so freaked out the entire time. It just doesn't seems safe or natural to be driving around on those cliffs. Unfortunately I ended up really sick the night before and was so dizzy and lethargic I couldn't participate and slept through the entire thing. I heard it was fun, they did some treking through mud and some interesting stuff. The location was beautiful so I was sad I didn't get to really be a part of it. However, after it was all over, one of the tech trainers pointed out the giant trantula that was hanging out on the bed I was sleeping in all day. I didn't realize there were trantulas here roaming around like that!!!
So that is the short version of everything....I am in week 7, so I have only 3 weeks left of training and the weekend after thanksgiving I'll be moving to my new site for the next 2 years. Its a very crazy and busy time right now, and I find myself getting emotional now that I am leaving the comforts of my current home and host family, whom I love and will cry when it's time for me to go. I'm excited and nervous to start the real part of this adventure.
So tomorrow I leave for the next 10 days to train in my new site, I'm a replacement volunteer, so there has already been a volunteer in my town working, so I'm excited about that too to see what she has done and get her advice.
We just got back from a trip to Ancash, which is a region in the Andes mountains. That was a really interesting trip. It was about an 8 hour bus ride to the capital city Huaraz, and we didn't spend much time there at first, we traveled about another 3 hours to a small town in the mountains called Chavin. Now transportation in Peru is a scary situation as I've mentioned before. Just imagine those crazy buses now traveling on dirt/rock/gravel roads at high altitudes on the edges of mountains. I was gripping my seat the entire time, I never once felt comfortable during out travel time, it was horrible! I felt many times that my life was going to end in a Peruvian bus that drove off the cliff...it was scary and I have a tremendous fear of heights on top of it.
Once we got to Chavin, we stayed in a hostal with HOT showers and TV....with one english channel. It was great! Another thing I need to mention is that altitude sickness is no joke, we were given pills ahead of time to take and I did. But once we got into the mountains I started having this weird tingling in my feet and hands that came and went the entire trip, and for the first few days I just had general malaise, but once I ran out of pills it got worse. I missed two days of activities due to some of the symtoms related to altitude sickness that I won't mention here.
The point of this trip was to do field based training, which is learning some of the stuff we will need to do in our new sites. So the first day we went and learned about health promotes and forming a youth group. So we went to a school and worked with kids and painted a mural. The following day, we went to build latrines for families who needed them...I missed this day because I was really sick. Then saturday we went to a town and interviewd women who had recieved these improved cooking stoves called "cocinas mejoradas"...they are an adobe brick built raised cooking stove that has a chimney that moves the smoke outdoors, because before the women would cook over an open flame on the floor of their kitchens. The smoke was hurting their lungs as well as their backs, and the same for the rest of the families. So after attending 8-10 information sessions put on by the volunteer these households were provided with materials from a peace corp grant to build these improved cooking stoves. So we went to interview these mothers about information pertaining to health as well as see if they were using their new stoves.
Now to preface how these interviews went, I have to tell you about the people who live in the mountains. They are very very traditional and conservative, their way of life as well as their clothing is different then other parts of Peru. Many of them do not speak spanish, they speak another language known as Quechua. So the women we interviewed were very timid. Unfortunately the women couldn't tell us much information in regards to health, for example they were unsure about balanced diets and hygiene. I actually felt uncomfortable asking them many of the questions because they were so shy, I felt like I was intruding and that it must be very intimidating for them. However, this was all apart of their agreement for recieving the "cocina mejorada".
After the interviews, we went and actually built a cocina mejorada. The family is usually required to build the first part, and then we come in and build the level where the stove is going to be. To do this, we use adobe bricks and this weird mud mix that contains: horse and donkey feces, salt, sugar, cactus water and broken glass. So after we put all that together we finished it up with the stove top, and after a fews days of drying the family can add the chimney and use it. The mother of the house came and saw it when we were finished and seemed really excited which was great!!
After we left Chavin, we returned to Huarez for our last night in Ancash, we all ended up finding this little pizza place. It was a really cute hole in the wall kinda place that was decorated with international flags and played american 80's music and classic rock. It was so much fun. There was a guy in there who asked me to take a picture of his table, so once I did he realized I was American and he was as well, he was from Lousiana, so that was kinda cool!
For our very last day in Ancash we traveled up another mountain to go to a team-building retreat scariest mountain of them all was so freaked out the entire time. It just doesn't seems safe or natural to be driving around on those cliffs. Unfortunately I ended up really sick the night before and was so dizzy and lethargic I couldn't participate and slept through the entire thing. I heard it was fun, they did some treking through mud and some interesting stuff. The location was beautiful so I was sad I didn't get to really be a part of it. However, after it was all over, one of the tech trainers pointed out the giant trantula that was hanging out on the bed I was sleeping in all day. I didn't realize there were trantulas here roaming around like that!!!
So that is the short version of everything....I am in week 7, so I have only 3 weeks left of training and the weekend after thanksgiving I'll be moving to my new site for the next 2 years. Its a very crazy and busy time right now, and I find myself getting emotional now that I am leaving the comforts of my current home and host family, whom I love and will cry when it's time for me to go. I'm excited and nervous to start the real part of this adventure.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Onto week 6! This means I have only 4 weeks left of training! I can't say this was the best week I've had yet, it started off kind of rough, Monday we got the results of our Spanish interviews and I wasn't so happy about where I was placed, but it's okay. After a rough Monday, I came home and promised my host Mom I would go to church with them, so we went to the Catholic church in the Chosica. That really helped turned my not-so-good day into a much better day. Mass here is IDENTICAL to mass in the U.S. Everything was the exact same, the only part that I liked better was that the music had that nice salsa sound to it. So when we sang "Hosana in the Highest" I felt like dancing. The other difference is that latin culture celebrates the saints much more than we do in the states. For example this was the month of the saint who represents dead mothers, which was the reason for us going. After mass my host family approached a bright shining picture of the saint and touched it then blessed themselves. I think that this experience made me very proud to be a Catholic, because there is something special about sharing such a sacred set of traditions in a different place in the world.
This week we went to a local health center. This place is smaller then a hospital but provides many different services. They are funded by the Ministry of Health, so they are government organizations. Thursday, we went to do house visits with the nurses, because apparently for families who are too busy to make it to the center the center will go to their homes to do check up for the children. Unfortunately most people weren't home but we were able to meet up with 2 families, and that was intersting. We also went to check out the facilities that are similar to "soup kitchens" however, people pay to pick up their lunches there for their families. It is really cheap, and it provides food for those families who cannot afford much. They were little kitchens who were run by volunteer mothers and they cook lunch 5 days a week. Along our lovely walk through the town, we came across a "camal" this is the place where they slaughter cows, it smelt lovely, and attracted tons of flies, and this seemed like it caused problems for the entire neighborhood, at one point we were looking into the river near by and we found were the blood from the camal is drained into the river, it was disgusting and disturbing!!!!
Friday we went back to the health center and sat in on exams for babies. The babies here seem gigantic, overweight for their age, and behind in their development in comparison to the babies in the US. This will be a topic we work with at our new sites. One child did come in that the nurses said she was underweight and she had dirt under her nails and looked unkept, one of the nurses just kept yelling at the mother repeatedly while 3 of us sat there, it was sort of akward.
Later that afternoon I did a presentation with 2 other volunteers to 15 students in the school about STD's. I was really surprised how much they didn't know, they couldn't even tell us what it stood for. I keep thinking back to when I was 15 or 16 and I may not have known about all types but I could probably tell you what STD stood for. We put together a few activites to define it as well as identify types of STD's and methods of prevention. It was really fun, even with my novice spanish I enjoyed it and the kids were helpful when I got stuck. It was fun! I can't wait to start doing some of that stuff at my site. 
I finished up my week with a trip to Panchacamac yesterday, which is a small town about 2 hours away from where I live. We went there to learn about small animal husbandry. We visited a few different homes who were raising chickens, pigs, ducks and guinea pigs. All the families also had organic farms. It was cool to see, and was a town probably similar to our sites. The scary part was that we took those crazy buses called combis, and we went on a lot of unpaved roads that bordered mountains and cliffs, it was really really sketchy!!! Afterward, we were dropped off at the mall, and went to the nicest pizza hut I've ever seen in my life and ate pizza!!! It w
as great!!!
as great!!!And today, being the awesome volunteers that we are, we met at the house of another volunteer with the kids from our host families to practice some of the diagnostic techniques we will be using at our sites. We had them draw community maps and make calendars, and these are ways for us to identify certain aspects about their cultures that could help us when it comes to diagnosing our new sites. Afterwards, we had a cookout and actually sat outside and ate at my house, I really miss cookouts.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
ONE MONTH DOWN...26 more to go!! I'm about to start week #5 of training tomorrow and it's an amazing and scary feeling to know that I'm halfway through training. Exciting because on Novemeber 2nd I will get my site, so at that point I'll know where in Peru I'll be spending my next two years, and believe me..I've got my preferences! Scary...because it means I'm leaving the comfort of this little life I'm becoming used too, 
and separating from many of the other volunteers and friends I've made. So it means another "adjusting" phases and many new challenges.
and separating from many of the other volunteers and friends I've made. So it means another "adjusting" phases and many new challenges.Yesterday I saw the most beautiful part of Peru that I have yet to see. Let me preface this first by saying that I have lived my whole life near the ocean or bay, and it wasn't until this month of living between dry mountains when I realized how much I've taken that for granted. So yesterday after our trip to Agraria University to study chicken, turkey and duck growth and development, we went back to Miraflores. I took this opportunity to find the ocean...and I found it! I feel like once I got there I took the biggest deep breath ever because there is nothing like being by the ocean, I loved it. It was also my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean in my whole life, I was the happiest I've been since I got here. It was beautiful. Seeing this wonderful part of Peru made me so excited for the many places I have yet to visit.
So lately my host mom is getting slick, the other day in my lunch I noticed the meat looked a little different even thoughtit was chopped really small, I tried it, texture was different so I struggled with that and ate around it. Later that night she told me it was "bofa" or cows lungs. She thought it was so funny. Well today she asked me what I wanted for lunch and I told her I didn't care, just no weird meet. Well today for lunch we had pesto pasta, and some meat. Directly I could tell the meat was different, but since I am on a mission to try stuff I went for a small piece. I started to eye the kids and see if they were eating it, and then finally Camilla asked my host Mom what it was, and she got all mad, because they were supposed to keep it a secret from me. So I told her that I was sorry and didn't like it, they laughed and thought it was really funny!! It was cow stomach. I think I just know too much about anatomy and have too much of an understanding of what the textures of some of these She made me some chicken instead. I told her she was getting sneaky! She loves it. Apparently, before we come they are told when and what foods to introduce us to, because both of those meals are very traditional here. So she is really enjoying it. And I do appreciate all the effort she puts in to helping me adjust and learn about this stuff. Because it may all be more difficult once I get to my site.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Chocolate Blood Brownies?!?!?!
So Friday, we had a set of volunteers come to talk to us about educating families on nutrition in our sites, we were taught ways to rehydrate babies and techniques of preparing food for babies. Well, we were also taught about how to prevent or help anemia. This including a lesson on cooking liver and BLOOD. Yeah...I didn't know you could cook blood, but apparently if you put a little in a frying pan with some onions and other veggies, you are able to cook blood, and it looks like little pieces of meat. After the lesson, we were encouraged to try some of the blood! I decided to stay close to one of the vegetarians and when they came around offering, I declined. I give myself a lot of credit, I'm trying tons of new foods here, but as for blood....it's NOT happening.
That wasn't the best part....the volunteer said that she decided to experiment one day and kept the blood in liquid form and mixed it in pancake batter and added a little chocolate. Which pretty much turned out to be chocolate blood brownies!!! I passed on these as well! I get that this may be things I will have to deal with at my site, but for now, I am just going to wait and deal with it at my site!
Saturday, we went to a University in Lima to study organic farming, I thought we'd be more in a classroom, but I guess if that is one thing I'm learning about the Peace Corp...everything is hands on. We rotated through 7 stations of learning to transplate, grow, make mulch, try fruits and veggies, mix up the dirt, and all kinds of stuff. We got dirty! It was interesting, well as much as I could understand, the students that were teaching us spoke very fast so it was difficult for me to pick up on everything. At our sites we will be expected to start gardens so this is all training for that, we are going back 4 more times to watch the progess of our gardens at the university and to study other topics.
After the lesson at the University, we went to the mall! The mall was identical to a U.S. mall (except the Salisbury Mall...sorry guys that mall SUCKS!)...I felt like I was in mini America, it had the north face, calvin klein, united colors of benetton, kennith cole, lots of good stuff. However, I'm realizing that now that I'm living off of a peace corp budget, much of what is sold there is out of my price range!!! The main reason we went though, was for the food court!!! I never wanted to be one of those Americans who only ate american when I traveled out of the country, but the truth is...when your here and your eating rice and potatoes and chicken most days...a pizza hut or burger king looks like heaven. So that is exactly what I did, I went and got a tiny little pizza from pizza hut and it was wonderful. There were 14 of us who ate lunch together and the table was covered in pizza hut, kfc, and burger king. We also discovered a few restaurants at the mall, they had TGI Fridays, Tony Romas, Benihana, and chilis!
This is a big week, today I am going to the Peace Corp headquartes in Lima for a few interviews regarding my site and my progress here so far. Then Friday I have another interview for my spanish, and to see if I am progressing and able to move up a level. So in preparation, my Spanish teacher decided that we are going to have 4 hours of strictly conversation in class this morning. This is going to be exhausting! But I'm sure it will prepare me well for Friday. Wish me luck!!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I FOUND Starbucks!
So went went to Lima monday afternoon for language class. We visited a part of Lima called Miraflores, which I think may be the Manhattan of Lima. It was nice, and clean and beautiful. We were there do to interviews to practice our spanish, so first we had to haggle with a Taxi driver. Apparently a taxi to our neighborhood from Lima should be about 30 soles, whenever we asked a taxi driver how much, they would tell us anywhere between 70-100, were stupid Americans, they think they can rip us off. Then we had to go to the Indian Market and interview people there, and they just had all kinds of touristy junk, and I got sucked into buying something! We also just had to ask random questions to people about where things were and how things worked, just that kind of stuff. The interesting part of Lima is how so much of everything is in english, we saw many "gringos" and people kept trying to talk to us in english. There were a mcdonalds, burger king, pizza hut, kfc and STARBUCKS everywhere! My partner and I actually cheated on a few of our last questions because while we were in starbucks a peruvian women behind us overheard us talking and asked what we were doing. Once we told her, she directed us to her husband, turns out her husband is also peruvian but speaks PERFECT english, so he answered a few questions for us!
After our interviews our teacher told us about a few options to get home, the one we were most comfortable with was just taking a taxi. So she helped us get an affordable taxi. The taxi back to my neighborhood was about an hour drive, and within that hour I seriously saw my life flash before my eyes over and over again. Basically there are no traffic laws in Peru, and the drivers do as they please, and if they feel like making a lane in between two lanes then they do. If they feel like making a right turn across 3 lanes of moving traffic, then they do. All goes on the roads in Peru! The only good part was the the taxi driver had american oldies on the radio, so we sang a lot of the way home.
Tuesday night I went to the movies with a few friends. Turns out most of the movies they were playing at the theater are all in English with Spanish subtitles, so we went and saw Going the Distance. I don't even like going to the movies, but to be able to get out and not worry about speaking spanish for an hour or so was fantastic. The movie was GREAT and the theater was really nice, I felt like I was at home. Except at the end when I kept thinking I would go get in my car and drive home to my nice warm bed and go to sleep, reality set in when I got up and was hustled onto a combi with a million people hanging on to the bars with both hands and walked about a mile back to my house. Then I remembered that I am in Peru and life is VERY different!
The rest of this week has been quiet, I usally have 4 hours of language class a day and they added an extra 45minutes of only conversation to that at the end of the day because our interviews are coming up next week and hopefully we will all move up a level. Tonight I was speaking with my host parents and they told me how much better my conversation skills are coming, and we can actually talk and laugh, as compared to the first week when I just looked at them after they spoke to me. She laughs because the first week she asked me if I like avocados and I said no, yet we ate guacomole for breakfast on saturday and I ate it and told her I really liked it. I told her that I just didn't understand spanish that first week, which was partially true. But really I thought I didn't like avocados, yet it turns out that I do. I'm just learning to eat so many more foods here that I would have never attempted in the U.S. and I REALLY like a lot of what I'm trying, which is GREAT!
Saturday I'm going back to Lima to study organic farming at a local college, and then we get to spend the rest of the day exploring! I can't wait!
After our interviews our teacher told us about a few options to get home, the one we were most comfortable with was just taking a taxi. So she helped us get an affordable taxi. The taxi back to my neighborhood was about an hour drive, and within that hour I seriously saw my life flash before my eyes over and over again. Basically there are no traffic laws in Peru, and the drivers do as they please, and if they feel like making a lane in between two lanes then they do. If they feel like making a right turn across 3 lanes of moving traffic, then they do. All goes on the roads in Peru! The only good part was the the taxi driver had american oldies on the radio, so we sang a lot of the way home.
Tuesday night I went to the movies with a few friends. Turns out most of the movies they were playing at the theater are all in English with Spanish subtitles, so we went and saw Going the Distance. I don't even like going to the movies, but to be able to get out and not worry about speaking spanish for an hour or so was fantastic. The movie was GREAT and the theater was really nice, I felt like I was at home. Except at the end when I kept thinking I would go get in my car and drive home to my nice warm bed and go to sleep, reality set in when I got up and was hustled onto a combi with a million people hanging on to the bars with both hands and walked about a mile back to my house. Then I remembered that I am in Peru and life is VERY different!
The rest of this week has been quiet, I usally have 4 hours of language class a day and they added an extra 45minutes of only conversation to that at the end of the day because our interviews are coming up next week and hopefully we will all move up a level. Tonight I was speaking with my host parents and they told me how much better my conversation skills are coming, and we can actually talk and laugh, as compared to the first week when I just looked at them after they spoke to me. She laughs because the first week she asked me if I like avocados and I said no, yet we ate guacomole for breakfast on saturday and I ate it and told her I really liked it. I told her that I just didn't understand spanish that first week, which was partially true. But really I thought I didn't like avocados, yet it turns out that I do. I'm just learning to eat so many more foods here that I would have never attempted in the U.S. and I REALLY like a lot of what I'm trying, which is GREAT!
Saturday I'm going back to Lima to study organic farming at a local college, and then we get to spend the rest of the day exploring! I can't wait!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Where is Starbucks????
So, no Starbucks in Chaclacayo, but we have discovered a local coffee shop. The whole idea of coffee is very different here then in the states. In the US, I would go into a coffee shop and get to choose from a million different flavors and types and sizes and milks and whatever else and get it in my to go cup and move along with the rest of my day. Here....coffee comes two ways...black or with milk. I've also noticed that coffee is more of a social thing here, we order our coffee, and it usually takes 15-20 min to prepare and we get it in a nice little mug on a saucer and drink it at a table in the restaurant. There isn't any quick on the go coffee cups! But it's actually really nice to sit down and chat with friends over a cup of coffee, I really enjoy it! But I do miss having a coffee in the morning, the coffee shop doesn't open until lunch time.
Friday for language class I had to go to Chosica and preform more interviews. These were a little more interesting, but a little more difficult. Basically I had to go around town and ask random people when they wash their hands, and what methods of contraceptives they use. So it was a little intimidating to ask complete strangers in my very broken Spanish if they prefer the "rhythm method" of contraception. This is all in preparation for when I go to my site, I do understand that because those questions will be much more uncomfortable, so it's learning, it's just funny!
Today, after spending a few hours around the breakfast table with my host family talking. Which was great, I'm getting excited how much better I am getting at my conversational skills, they decided that today was the day that we would go and try ceviche. Ceviche is a dish traditional to Peru, it is raw fished that is cooked only in a lemon juice. Since I don't like fish or sushi, I was concerned about this. We also talk about ceviche almost every day in training and were warned that is may be a difficult on our stomachs. However in my host families training they were told they could give it to us in Week 3, so today being the first day of week 3, we went for ceviche.
Surprisingly, it was really good. I actually really liked it! I am surprised almost everyday at all the foods I'm trying and really enjoying. I wish I would have known that I liked more of this stuff before!!
So tonight I went back to Chosica with some friends to shop around and hang out, we found a great little pizza place, although the pizza is REALLY different, it was pretty good! It was just nice to have a meal that didn't involve ANY rice!!! When I got back, I played cards with my host brother and sister. The taught me some really fun card games, and at first I sucked and they made fun of me, but towards the end I was doing much better. I think Cesar cheats so I gotta stay on that kid!
Tomorrow we are going to climb this mountain in the neighborhood and at the top there is a cross in sort of a little hut. I am really excited, look forward to some awesome pictures!
Friday for language class I had to go to Chosica and preform more interviews. These were a little more interesting, but a little more difficult. Basically I had to go around town and ask random people when they wash their hands, and what methods of contraceptives they use. So it was a little intimidating to ask complete strangers in my very broken Spanish if they prefer the "rhythm method" of contraception. This is all in preparation for when I go to my site, I do understand that because those questions will be much more uncomfortable, so it's learning, it's just funny!
Today, after spending a few hours around the breakfast table with my host family talking. Which was great, I'm getting excited how much better I am getting at my conversational skills, they decided that today was the day that we would go and try ceviche. Ceviche is a dish traditional to Peru, it is raw fished that is cooked only in a lemon juice. Since I don't like fish or sushi, I was concerned about this. We also talk about ceviche almost every day in training and were warned that is may be a difficult on our stomachs. However in my host families training they were told they could give it to us in Week 3, so today being the first day of week 3, we went for ceviche.
Surprisingly, it was really good. I actually really liked it! I am surprised almost everyday at all the foods I'm trying and really enjoying. I wish I would have known that I liked more of this stuff before!!
So tonight I went back to Chosica with some friends to shop around and hang out, we found a great little pizza place, although the pizza is REALLY different, it was pretty good! It was just nice to have a meal that didn't involve ANY rice!!! When I got back, I played cards with my host brother and sister. The taught me some really fun card games, and at first I sucked and they made fun of me, but towards the end I was doing much better. I think Cesar cheats so I gotta stay on that kid!
Tomorrow we are going to climb this mountain in the neighborhood and at the top there is a cross in sort of a little hut. I am really excited, look forward to some awesome pictures!
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