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.