This Is When It Gets Real

Hello again everybody,

Well, I´ve got to say, I´m a little disappointed. Zero comments from you after I posted all those pictures from my trip. But oh well. I know how it is to be busy. Case in point: I let another couple of weeks go between postings. In my defence, I didn´t have a computer to post on. Actually, I still don´t, but I wanted to keep you in the know so here I am posting my life to you from a public computer in Huancayo. The only downside is that until I get my computer back, no pictures. No worries though. I have complete faith that your imaginations will create some beautiful images.

The last couple of weeks have been busy. We finished up training and then had the planning for the Thank you party to our families and for the swearing in ceremony. That´s right, I´m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! The swear-in ceremony was held on Friday and in our oath we promised to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and abroad. This is the same oath that our military take. Attending the ceremony were the head honchos: our country director (the highest ranking Peace Corps position in Peru) and the American ambassador to Peru, Miss Rose Marie Likins. You´ll be glad to know that I shook her hand, took a picture with her and even got to chat about her Thanksgiving spent with the Marines. So we swore in and have been promoted from PCT´s to PCV´s! Woot.

The day before swear-in was a heck of a lot more fun. That day was Thanksgiving and although I was missing the eating fest that the holiday brings in the States, we had our own bits of party. The morning began with a breakfast banquet with just us Environmental volunteers full of fruit and yogurt and nice breads. A much healthier breakfast than we had been used to. A little bit later, it was time to prep for the Thanksgiving party where our thanks was directed at our host families. As head of the food committee, this meant that I was running around buying last minute things like bread and juice and cutting fruit and cheese and laying them out on trays. I had also made pralines the night before to bring a little bit of Southern taste to our banquet. Also on the spread was sweet potato fries, fruit salad, guacamole, baba ganoush, chips, popcorn, carrot cake, mini apple pies, empanadas, taquitos and wantons. For drinks we served chicha morada and maracuya juice. I think everyone was happy except that they may have not gotten to eat all they wanted.

Although I was in charge of the food, I also participated in the entertainment. We put on a quick Thanksgiving play just to explain a little bit about the holiday. I was a Pilgrim Woman and all I had to do was say ¨Dios mio¨whenever she mentioned us. I think they liked the play but they didn´t quite get the message because the next day, I had to re-explain the idea to my host mom. The other act I participated in was the traditional Peruvian dance called the Carnaval Potosi. We dressed up in the typical dresses and danced barefoot. (This is where if I had my computer I would share photos and video but you´ll just have to wait, or special request it). Lots of fun. But the real show stopped (literally, it was the finale) was Peru 16´s rendition of Stomp. A small group of PCT´s grabbed whatever they could to make sounds and within three days had come up with a really cool routine and funny to boot. (Remind me for video later). I think the parents felt properly thanked.

We had our own party Friday night to say goodbye to each other. We went out to a bar near the river in Chosica and pretty much took over the second floor and its juke box. Nothing says good times like singing Cher and Rod Stewart in perfect english while the Peruvians across the street look on. It was a good way to say goodbye and wish each other luck. And it was weird to think about how long it would be, if ever, we were all in the same place again.

The last week has been and even still is, emotionally charged. I have felt incredibly happy and excited, tormentedly anxious and nostalgically sad. For the most part, I have just felt ready. Things have been frustrating and it has been sad to say goodbye to friends but I think we are all at the place where we are ready to get out and do good work. The anxieties are still there, but the optimism that everything will work out and come together overrides that feeling of nervousness.

So to recap training. I read 4 books, watched 6 movies, went to Lima 8 times, camping once, countless cold showers, a week without any shower, 8 hours a day - 5 days a week with 39 of my new close friends, many combi rides with no thefts and many more good times. I have a cell phone and can converse on it in spanish and I can explain that, no, I´m not a tourist. I can claim that I live here in Peru and I am ready to start working here too.

I just spent the last couple of hours buying things that I will need to furnish my new room in site including a mattress, frame and sheet set. Who knew that the first bed I would ever buy on my own would be in Peru? Tomorrow we will grab our car, strap the bed to the top and take the 4.5 hour trip to site. From there, my work will begin.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you. I have a new mailing address. Please comment here or e-mail me if you would like me to send it to you. Know that I´m thinking of you lots. Blessings.

Well, folks, I'm terribly sorry for having left you thinking about Halloween for the last three weeks. The case is that I spent 10 days of those weeks traveling and the rest of those days gearing for and gearing down from traveling. We completed our FBT (field-based training) in a place called Junin and then I went on to visit my future home in Yauyos. So 10 days of travel and it was good to come "home" to the bed I'd gotten used to. Anyway, the good news is that, as some followers of my blogs know, when I go traveling, the result on my blog is......a TOP 10 LIST!

So to remind you of the rules. Top ten lists need not reach ten nor be limited by ten. The order in which items of the list appear has nothing to do with the coolness of the event. Also, my lists count up. So here we go!

1. In the drive to Junin I achieved a new personal best highest altitude reached. That sign says 4818 meters (15,807 feet) above sea level!

2. We got to visit many current volunteers in their sites, including Lauren in Huayre. Huayre is cool because of this giant in their plaza.

That is a maca. It is a tuber indigenous to high altitudes (Huayre is at about 4100 meters) and known worldwide for its health benefits - specifically, high in vitamins, energizing and an aphrodisiac. We started many a day in town with a hot papaya-maca smoothie.

3. Teaching the children. Also in Huayre, as well as Junin, we were able to give environmental education talks to a few classes in the schools. We focused mainly on reforestation and the importance of planting trees since we were there during Reforestation Week. The kids made us feel like a rock star. Even if we were feeling unsure of our spanish and the adults didn't really know what to make of us, the kids loved us immediately.

4. Working with special children. We also got to visit a special ed school in Junin. This was a simultaneously cool and ugly experience. Cool because, well, let's face it, if kids make you feel great for loving you, special ed kids have the biggest hearts and therefore have way more love to give. The ugly side came when, being there, we could observe a few of the attitudes of other Peruvians towards special ed kids. Some are ashamed, others are afraid and others don't necessarily see them as capable. But for the most part, this experience was uplifting - especially when we all sat down to a mid-morning roll and plastic cup full of Inca-kola.

5. Teaching the adults. On this trip, I had my first experience leading a discussion with adults. The tourism committee of Huayre asked us to give a talk about eco-tourism and help them visualize how they could do that in their town. Having no experience in eco-tourism (except as an occasional patron), we were a little insecure going into this talk too. Of course, even with our limited experience, we still had more than these community members. It turned out to be a great chat and ended with delicious Sol de Cuzco hot chocolate and soda crackers. Yes.

6. Giant frogs! In case you're just tuning in, no, this isn't a list of plagues. Junin is home to a couple of endangered and endemic species because of its altitude and its lake (Chinchaycocha). It is really a quite beautiful altiplano wetland. But due to hunting and loss of habitat this little guy (not so little) is in danger.

Because of that, Peru's protected area service is conducting a population rehabilitation center which we got to visit. Also cool. As a biologist, Lake Chinchaycocha was calling my name.

7. Running into an old Brassica friend at the municipal vivero (tree nursery) in Junin. This little guy was all over Spain when we were looking for its relative last year.

8. Flamingos! We went on a boat trip out onto the lake one morning and from our zodiac, we could see Andean coots, zambullidores and flamingos. So cool. Here they are flying.

9. Historic site of the battle of Junin as well as the location of Incan ruins in Chacamarca (I think that's the spelling). This was the first day that I could actually be in a short-sleeve shirt. It was lovely.

10. Recycle buyback with PCV (and C of C alum) Will. For 4 hours, we bough recyclables from little old ladies, drunk old men, moms and children. The total we bought I think turned out to be about 300 soles (~ $100) worth of recycled materials.

11. Site visit! Walking my new home with the volunteer I will be replacing. Here we are at the end of the street on which I will live.

12. We're heading into the rainy season and so one lovely rainy afternoon (it rained from 1:30 until 7:30), we had an information download. I sat with my notebook and wrote down everything Cate could throw at me about our new town.

13. To tackle one of her current problems regarding trash separation and at the same time introduce me as the new volunteer, we made an informational video. It will be played before the popular television shows so that everyone watching will see.

14. There's another tall, blond, foreigner in my town. She's from the Netherlands and is doing a study on the biodiversity of the snails in the area for her masters. What are the odds?

15. Donkeys. Everywhere. Including the health post.

I think that's it for now. Though I'm sure I'll be coming up with a lot more for you. We have one more week of training and then we move out to site. Since I will have internet there, I plan to be keeping you up to speed through the blog but only time will tell with what frequency once my work gets going. Thanks for reading.

Blessings.