A year after graduation

Well I cant even believe it but I was thinking today in my moto ride into town that it has been over a year since I graduated from University!

But before I get into that, I want to send a shout out to my Dad, Happy 50th Birthday! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

Thinking back on a the first year I can remember without studying, I feel like I have forgotten a LOT of my information from studies, but also learned a ton. The other day friend of mine that likes to know and ask random facts, asked me what the first classified evolutionary human was and I blanked. Also, thinking in Spanish and trying to remember things I learned in English is sometimes a challenge. I'm trying to cram in so much vocabulary and sentence structure that trying to think back on first year anthropology classes was just not going to happen.

But I feel like I have had a very happy and interesting year. I have met so many new people, both Peruvian and American and I have been introduced and even integrated into an entirely new culture. I have gotten over my dreamy first phase where I thought everything was beautiful and perfect and now see both the good and the bad. It makes me feel good though, like I'm actually learning something about the people I live with, and not just being a passive outsider/observer.

In terms of my Peace Corps work, I feel like things are going really well! I now am recognized sometimes in meetings to say a few things about what I am doing and to remind people of my upcoming meetings. I work a LOT with the school and they have been sooooo great and excited about everything and anything I come up with. They even bought themselves trash cans last week! A huge first step, now we just need to move to the management of that trash. But what makes me really happy is that they are including me in planning their years goals in terms of environmental education and I cant wait to be a part of the students education!

Outside of my work, I continue to have friends and to be close with a few of my host siblings. I feel more like part of the family now, joking around and sharing food. My younger host brother always gives me his veggies that he doesn't want now and I always give him the rice I cant finish. It is a great trade! More importantly, it makes me feel less like a guest and more like someone who lives in the house as a member of the family and I really like that.

Anyway, just a few reflections on my year outside of school in the "real" world! Much love and thanks for reading!

-Carolyn

Training my dog to "six"

So I thought I´d just write a few quick updates.

This Monday I held my big community meeting in which I presented my community diagnostic that I finished of my community in respects to environmental problems. I was incredibly nerouse, but it actually went REALLY well. I identified with my community problems that I have seen that I think we can improve together. These included a general trash clean up and maybe a system of mini landfills instead of trash burning, as well as a program of reforestation that they were really interested in. I think the town is upset with all the trees that are being cut down to put in light posts for the electricity we are supposedly going to get in the future. Anyway, I felt really good and my friends and host Dad told me that I presented really well and that my spanish was great! Although, a few days later my best friend mentioned a few words I said wrong... but not enough to deflate my ego! Most importantly, I think I reminded people that I am there with goals and hopes to work with the community to improve the quality of life for them and for me because I am a member of their community too! And that I am not just there to go to their parties and be a form of entertainment to watch how I dance and who I dance with.

On that note, after this meeting I held I realized how much my Spanish really has improved. I noticed that I was understanding almost everything in people's conversations and that I could jump in with my own stories and feel comfortable explaining things. That is not to say that I am fluent and never have problems expressing what I want... just that I feel a million times more comfortable in this language then I did 9 months ago! It also means that I am starting to get the dirt on people and how they feel about so-and-so and their neighbors, etc. It's a little sad to have my little eutopia break down, but a nice sign that I am really integrating and starting to understand what is going on around me.

I also had the fortune of attending a meeting last week that was supposed to be about bringing to light to the community, which it was. But it turned into a meeting of the Rondas where a Mom and her son were settling a property dispute about whether or not one of her 10 sons had the right to build a church on the property of their father that has passed away. The Rondas are the group that keep order in the town, kind of like a self organized police force. It got me thinking about how interesting it is that there are no police or lawyers in my little tiny town, and yet they have organized in such a way that they keep the peace, have property established and have a place to present problems and have them settled with community imput. Really cool for me to see, although it did drag out for a looooong time, haha.



My dog is big and beautiful! I´m am training him to sit and my family gets a kick out of it. My youngest siblings have starting yelling "six" at him (an attempt at saying "sit" in english). It is really fun to watch them take their leftover bones or whatever they were eating and hold it up yelling "six!" at my hungry little baby boy. However, its hard to call him a baby when he has gotten so big so fast! I cant believe he was a tiny puppy only 5 months ago! I´m also working on his barking at strangers habit, but my family likes this quality about him (he is protecting the house) so it is hard to change.

I also recently cooked for my family for the first time and it was a fun experience. I made chicken fajitas, with a little help from my host Mom making the chicken. I had my 8 family members and my best friend over to be the judges of my homemade salsa, guacamole, and stir fried peppers and onions. Overall, I think they liked it and they had never had the tortilla wraps before so it was a good new experience. Of course, they were served on top of a big plate of rice to ensure everyone was full, haha. But we ate the rice with my salsa and guacamole and it was all good. Now my best friend insists I am a "chef" and nominates me in random meeting to help with food preparation.... not annoying at ALL.

Otherwise, things have been good in my little Peruvian home. I have been playing late night, moonlit soccer lately because it is a full moon. Only once a month do we all go out and play together because the night is the only time we are all free and the moon is the only light we have to play with!

I guess that is all I have for today, I miss you all and thank you for your support, love and emails! Keep me updated!