Poco a poco is how everything feels these days. Little by little. The language, the culture, daily ruitines, etc.
I feel like it has been a while since I wrote an update, but I´m sure in reality it hasn´t been too long. I know you all have been anxiously awaiting my stories! haha. Just kidding. But in reality, I do anxiously await email updates from you all, so keep them coming!
Things have been going well in my site, with the regular ups and downs of anxiety that accompany new volunteers in their work. In terms of my family life, everything is going very well. I get along really well with my siblings and usually it feels just like a real family. Of coarse, it has been a LONG time since I lived with a 5 or 7 year old, and at times I just don´t know how to deal with my two youngest siblings. Not to mention the differences in child rearing here and the amount of work they do around the house makes me sometimes forget that they are kids! My host Dad has been a big help in daily life, bringing me to meetings and always introducing me to people and helping me in conversations when I don´t understand. He is a great guy and I am grateful to have his help.
In the community I am starting to feel more and more at home. With a few of my neighbors I feel comfortable dropping by their houses and chatting for. My name gets yelled by local kids in most parts of town instead of Gringa. And with my closer neighbors and friends I get called Carito affectionately, and it makes me feel at home. I am even starting to make some friends in site... mostly my oldest host brothers friends and my host aunts, but slowly but surely I am progressing in the friend department! My little puppy is doing well, he is getting fatter and is tortured daily. But, today he got his first vaccination and I got a bunch of tips and flea medicine from the vet, so he will be in good health! He makes me smile and I´m glad I have his tiny company sometimes.
For those of you who are wondering, which I think is most people, I feel like I should explain exactly what I am doing here besides playing with my puppy and making friends. The goals of the Peace Corps are to develop sustainable community projects (for my in the environment) and cultural exchange. The cultural exchange is easy and a daily process. Thank you Mom and Dad for the book on Ithaca, because everyone loves it... although they think it represents all of the US and I have to explain that it is only one place! In terms of projects, we are meant to start them after 3 to 4 months to give us time to develop a diagnostic of the community and to understand better what the problems really are. That is the stage I am in, which means a lot os stress in terms of researching, but also a lot of fear about how to go about this diagnostic thing. It is scary sometimes to go and ask people pointed questions about their trash and the environment, and I honestly hate doing it. But, as my boss always says, it is very important becasue I wont be able to help if I don´t know what is going on. This is something I really like about the Peace Corps, is their attempt to really integrate and understand a community before diving in with random projects and throwing money at communities without and long terms sustainable goals. So... heres hoping I can develop something long lasting and sustainable!
Right now, I have started a little summer school with the local kids teaching English and Environment. It is fun and easy going, I teach two days a week, two different classes. My older kids are really great and I think they enjoy the class. The younger ones are a struggle because I didn´t realize at first that a lot of them cant read. Now that I know, I´m hoping to make the class a lot more interactive and fun for them. It also gave me the side project of working one on one with my younger host sister to help her learn to read. So, if any of you have good ideas about teachig english, tips, games or songs... let me know!
I guess my last piece of news is that I am learning to spear fish! It is really fun and pretty tiring but I love it! I usually tag along with the boys while they chuck their fish to the shore for me and the other girls to collects (which I also had to learn to do... its not so easy to hold on to a fish!) until the boys are tired or finished and then they let me go at it! My total caught amount is 5 fish! I´m very proud. Pictures are soon to come of my fishing adventures.
Other than that, I am on a very slow terrible computer, so I will finish this email for now. I love and miss you all and I hope you can send me updates soon!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Feliz Navidad!
Hello all!
Happy holiday season! I don´t think I will be back to the internet again until the new year, so I just wanted to wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy new year! Here in Peru, I will be celebrating with my lovely new host family of 8 people in our tiny house of three bedrooms and a community full of their reatives! We will be eating and drinking at midnight on the 24th, and I´m looking forward to trying out this new tradition... althought I´m sure I will be very tired Christmas day!
As far as updates go, things are going very well in my tiny Pueblo and I couldn´t be happier. I had a short stint of unfortunate incidents including me getting pretty sick and staying in the capital city for a few days to recover, followed by me returning to my town and trying to play barefoot soccer with my siblings, ending with me burning the bottoms of my feet to the point of blistering! I learned my lesson, and my host Dad now thinks I am ridiculous for not listening to his advice to wear shoes. Now I know that my feet are not as strong as the locals!
I also had a happy experience the other day where I attended a meeting of the mothers and fathers of the family, meaning all the parents of kids in the school which includes more than 50 people and was a good chance for me to be seen. I got to introduce myself to the community members publicy, which was terrifying, but I managed to handle public spanish speaking with a little bit of grace. After which, I organized a summer school with community input about when it should be. Then, the icing on the cake, my host Dad has been elected the new president of the fathers of the family and, when presented at this meeting, took the opportunity to also introduce me to the community members and tell them to invite me to meetings and talk to me when they can. I was thrilled to finally be introduced to a big handful of people who probably had no idea why I was there. I still have lots of people to meet and explanations to give about my work, but this tiny step really boosted my confidence.
I also had the opportunity to attend the moving up ceremonies on my town from the Inicial school (for 5 year olds) and from primary to secondary schoo (secondary is highschool). The parties are a big deal here, where all the little kids thare moving up have to wear suites or dresses and come with a paraja, or partner girl or boy. They have to walk out in front of their families with their dates and we all give a champaign toast, eat dinner (I had to eat two because I went to two parties the same night) and watch them dance with their partners for a while. It was so much fun, and later turned into a big dance party for the aduts. I got to talk to a lot of people, and was even mentioned in one of the speeches from the director of the school. I felt special, but also a little awkward. It is almost impossible to get used to getting stared at, and knowing everything you do is being watched by everyone. But, I had a great time, staying until the wee hours of the night with my host parents and walking home in the pitch dark, using my cell phone as a flashight!
Other than that, my daily life consists of getting up early to blasting music from the raido (around 6 30am) and usually try to go for a quick run (to the amusement of just about everyone). I spend time playing cards with my host siblings, reading, and studying my spanish. Sometimes I make plans for things I want to do or read my manuals. Eventually I go to the river with a family member and we ¨bath¨ and swim around and soak up the sun. In the evenings I go with my entire family to watch the local guys play soccer for abour 2 hours. A lot of community members are there, and there are always bets placed on the small pick up games. Slowly but surely, people are getting to know me. Although, I am happy to say that most kids that live near me now know my name and I even have a nick name now, Caro or Carito.
Finally, my last fun piece of news is that I came home one evening after a day in the capital city picking up my mail and buying a mattress to a brand new gift from my host brother. And would you believe, it was a puppy!! Now I have this tiny little month old thing that loves me and follows me around the house. It is tortured by my younger host siblings and neighbors, and has a diet of rice and milk. I have named it Brandol, after much debate with two of my host brothers, and I think my host family approves of the name. I love my little Brandol and am happy to have a little thing to train to protect me from other dogs! haha.
Again, I am wishing you all a VERY happy holiday season! I miss you all and I cant believe I´m spending Chistmas without my wonderful family. I want to thank you all for your support, emails and phone calls. It really makes this experience a lot more enjoyable to know I have caring family and friends back in the U.S. I hope you all wil continue to keep me updated and send me stories and photos! As a side note, I have upoaded some photos to facebook for those who are interested to see what is going on here in my Pueblo.
Much love, hugs and kisses to everyone.
Carito
Happy holiday season! I don´t think I will be back to the internet again until the new year, so I just wanted to wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy new year! Here in Peru, I will be celebrating with my lovely new host family of 8 people in our tiny house of three bedrooms and a community full of their reatives! We will be eating and drinking at midnight on the 24th, and I´m looking forward to trying out this new tradition... althought I´m sure I will be very tired Christmas day!
As far as updates go, things are going very well in my tiny Pueblo and I couldn´t be happier. I had a short stint of unfortunate incidents including me getting pretty sick and staying in the capital city for a few days to recover, followed by me returning to my town and trying to play barefoot soccer with my siblings, ending with me burning the bottoms of my feet to the point of blistering! I learned my lesson, and my host Dad now thinks I am ridiculous for not listening to his advice to wear shoes. Now I know that my feet are not as strong as the locals!
I also had a happy experience the other day where I attended a meeting of the mothers and fathers of the family, meaning all the parents of kids in the school which includes more than 50 people and was a good chance for me to be seen. I got to introduce myself to the community members publicy, which was terrifying, but I managed to handle public spanish speaking with a little bit of grace. After which, I organized a summer school with community input about when it should be. Then, the icing on the cake, my host Dad has been elected the new president of the fathers of the family and, when presented at this meeting, took the opportunity to also introduce me to the community members and tell them to invite me to meetings and talk to me when they can. I was thrilled to finally be introduced to a big handful of people who probably had no idea why I was there. I still have lots of people to meet and explanations to give about my work, but this tiny step really boosted my confidence.
I also had the opportunity to attend the moving up ceremonies on my town from the Inicial school (for 5 year olds) and from primary to secondary schoo (secondary is highschool). The parties are a big deal here, where all the little kids thare moving up have to wear suites or dresses and come with a paraja, or partner girl or boy. They have to walk out in front of their families with their dates and we all give a champaign toast, eat dinner (I had to eat two because I went to two parties the same night) and watch them dance with their partners for a while. It was so much fun, and later turned into a big dance party for the aduts. I got to talk to a lot of people, and was even mentioned in one of the speeches from the director of the school. I felt special, but also a little awkward. It is almost impossible to get used to getting stared at, and knowing everything you do is being watched by everyone. But, I had a great time, staying until the wee hours of the night with my host parents and walking home in the pitch dark, using my cell phone as a flashight!
Other than that, my daily life consists of getting up early to blasting music from the raido (around 6 30am) and usually try to go for a quick run (to the amusement of just about everyone). I spend time playing cards with my host siblings, reading, and studying my spanish. Sometimes I make plans for things I want to do or read my manuals. Eventually I go to the river with a family member and we ¨bath¨ and swim around and soak up the sun. In the evenings I go with my entire family to watch the local guys play soccer for abour 2 hours. A lot of community members are there, and there are always bets placed on the small pick up games. Slowly but surely, people are getting to know me. Although, I am happy to say that most kids that live near me now know my name and I even have a nick name now, Caro or Carito.
Finally, my last fun piece of news is that I came home one evening after a day in the capital city picking up my mail and buying a mattress to a brand new gift from my host brother. And would you believe, it was a puppy!! Now I have this tiny little month old thing that loves me and follows me around the house. It is tortured by my younger host siblings and neighbors, and has a diet of rice and milk. I have named it Brandol, after much debate with two of my host brothers, and I think my host family approves of the name. I love my little Brandol and am happy to have a little thing to train to protect me from other dogs! haha.
Again, I am wishing you all a VERY happy holiday season! I miss you all and I cant believe I´m spending Chistmas without my wonderful family. I want to thank you all for your support, emails and phone calls. It really makes this experience a lot more enjoyable to know I have caring family and friends back in the U.S. I hope you all wil continue to keep me updated and send me stories and photos! As a side note, I have upoaded some photos to facebook for those who are interested to see what is going on here in my Pueblo.
Much love, hugs and kisses to everyone.
Carito
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
One week down!
Hello everyone!
Well I can hardly believe I have been living in my new house for a week! I loooove my new host family, they are fantastic and sweet. The town seems pretty receptive to me, but I hardly know anyone other than my families relations (which is probably half the town..) and neighbors (who are also relatives). I was thinking to myself how the Ryan clan always jokes about living all together one days instead of just one week a year, and it might be something like I´m living in now... but with a lot less running water....
I don´t even know where to begin to explain my new home. I have a room with a bed and a bench in it. As I think I have mentioned, I don´t have electricity or running water. It is actually not bad thought because the family has car batteries that they use to have a light in the house at night, or candles when that runs out. What it means is that we usually don´t stay up past 9 or 10 and the family is up around 5 or 6am. The water is also not much of a problem because the family has a big bin of it that the kids fill up by running out to the feilds to get water from the wells. The ¨fields¨ are actually where the banana, mango and avacado trees grow and they are beautiful. Sometimes I go out with my younger siblings in search of fresh fruits, which we are NEVER lacking in. I eat tons of bananas and mangos whenever I am the slightest bit hungry... and sometimes when I am not because neighbor kids are always bringing them to me. Oh, and bathing? Also not a problem because there is a river near by. When I first hear I would be bathing in a river, I was less than thrilled... but now that I have experienced it, I realllly enjoy it! It feels so nice to swim around in the cold water durring the super hot days.
Overall, my experience my first week has been really nice. I have already started planning a summer school of english and environment with the principal of the local school. Other than that... I haven´t done much. I play a LOT of cards, and even taught my host siblings how to play poker.. which they love because I let them use my american change to gamble. I would feel bad about introducing gambling, but they gamble all the time on soccer games and chicken fights. Yes, cock fights. There is a cock fighting ring right next to my house! But there aren´t very many fights so far. I have only seen one, and it wasn´t to the death. I have to understand the logistics to cock fighting, but I do see men walk around with their roosters, petting them and treating them like kings.
Otherwise, it is hard to describe my life here. I am learning how to chace pigs and goats out of the house when they try to steal food. I always have to keep an eye out for one chicken that likes laying eggs on my bed (because I don´t have a door to my room yet). I lay on a hammock a lot and contemplate what I am going to do to start writing my diagnostic. My first project here in site is to spend three months writing a diagnostic about potential projects I can do in the town with the community. So, I basically need to talk to people and get to know people and things about the town. I´m glad they give us that buffer time, because it is overwhelming to be in a completely different lifestyle with completely different people and a different language and immediately start something productive.
I should also say that the people here, in particular my host family, are soooo nice. Everywhere I go, they bring me a chair to sit down (which is sometime awkward when everyone else is standing). They are always asking me if I need or want anything, and if they mention something and ask if I like it and I say yes, they will proceed to buy that thing for the next meal. Considering I am living with a very poor family, this kind of generosity is almost too much for me sometimes. I don´t know how to even begin to thank them for letting me share their home and food for such a long time.
Well I can hardly believe I have been living in my new house for a week! I loooove my new host family, they are fantastic and sweet. The town seems pretty receptive to me, but I hardly know anyone other than my families relations (which is probably half the town..) and neighbors (who are also relatives). I was thinking to myself how the Ryan clan always jokes about living all together one days instead of just one week a year, and it might be something like I´m living in now... but with a lot less running water....
I don´t even know where to begin to explain my new home. I have a room with a bed and a bench in it. As I think I have mentioned, I don´t have electricity or running water. It is actually not bad thought because the family has car batteries that they use to have a light in the house at night, or candles when that runs out. What it means is that we usually don´t stay up past 9 or 10 and the family is up around 5 or 6am. The water is also not much of a problem because the family has a big bin of it that the kids fill up by running out to the feilds to get water from the wells. The ¨fields¨ are actually where the banana, mango and avacado trees grow and they are beautiful. Sometimes I go out with my younger siblings in search of fresh fruits, which we are NEVER lacking in. I eat tons of bananas and mangos whenever I am the slightest bit hungry... and sometimes when I am not because neighbor kids are always bringing them to me. Oh, and bathing? Also not a problem because there is a river near by. When I first hear I would be bathing in a river, I was less than thrilled... but now that I have experienced it, I realllly enjoy it! It feels so nice to swim around in the cold water durring the super hot days.
Overall, my experience my first week has been really nice. I have already started planning a summer school of english and environment with the principal of the local school. Other than that... I haven´t done much. I play a LOT of cards, and even taught my host siblings how to play poker.. which they love because I let them use my american change to gamble. I would feel bad about introducing gambling, but they gamble all the time on soccer games and chicken fights. Yes, cock fights. There is a cock fighting ring right next to my house! But there aren´t very many fights so far. I have only seen one, and it wasn´t to the death. I have to understand the logistics to cock fighting, but I do see men walk around with their roosters, petting them and treating them like kings.
Otherwise, it is hard to describe my life here. I am learning how to chace pigs and goats out of the house when they try to steal food. I always have to keep an eye out for one chicken that likes laying eggs on my bed (because I don´t have a door to my room yet). I lay on a hammock a lot and contemplate what I am going to do to start writing my diagnostic. My first project here in site is to spend three months writing a diagnostic about potential projects I can do in the town with the community. So, I basically need to talk to people and get to know people and things about the town. I´m glad they give us that buffer time, because it is overwhelming to be in a completely different lifestyle with completely different people and a different language and immediately start something productive.
I should also say that the people here, in particular my host family, are soooo nice. Everywhere I go, they bring me a chair to sit down (which is sometime awkward when everyone else is standing). They are always asking me if I need or want anything, and if they mention something and ask if I like it and I say yes, they will proceed to buy that thing for the next meal. Considering I am living with a very poor family, this kind of generosity is almost too much for me sometimes. I don´t know how to even begin to thank them for letting me share their home and food for such a long time.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Peace Corps
So, I have gotten a couple of comments lately asking what exactly I am doing here in Peru with the Peace Corps. I remember that when I left I still didn't exactly know what I was coming here for. So, this brief entry is for a run down of that.
As of tomorrow, I will be starting my two year Peace Corps service working as an Environmental Management volunteer in the department of Lambayeque, Peru. What this means is that I will be attempting to fulfill three goals; Environmental Education, Waste Management and Reforestation in the form of planting one thousand trees, preferably native species.
In all three specific goals, the Peace Corps aims to develop our project sustainably, and from what I understand, that means having the community be able to go through all of the steps of initiating and completing a project on their own with little assistance. In other words, I am here to "facilitate" more than lead. The goal is that when I leave, the community I work in will be able to have better environmental practices without my help. In my mind, that means education will be the most important aspect because in any part of the world, no one wants to act on environmental issues without understanding why it is important.
So, in other words, I will be planting trees, building landfills, and working with youth and adults about basic environmental education. I am VERY excited to start, especially the education part. I want to thank you all for your support in me being here, and for you love in the form of emails and thoughts.
Love you all, thanks for reading!
As of tomorrow, I will be starting my two year Peace Corps service working as an Environmental Management volunteer in the department of Lambayeque, Peru. What this means is that I will be attempting to fulfill three goals; Environmental Education, Waste Management and Reforestation in the form of planting one thousand trees, preferably native species.
In all three specific goals, the Peace Corps aims to develop our project sustainably, and from what I understand, that means having the community be able to go through all of the steps of initiating and completing a project on their own with little assistance. In other words, I am here to "facilitate" more than lead. The goal is that when I leave, the community I work in will be able to have better environmental practices without my help. In my mind, that means education will be the most important aspect because in any part of the world, no one wants to act on environmental issues without understanding why it is important.
So, in other words, I will be planting trees, building landfills, and working with youth and adults about basic environmental education. I am VERY excited to start, especially the education part. I want to thank you all for your support in me being here, and for you love in the form of emails and thoughts.
Love you all, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
My site!
Oh my goodness where to begin.
I went to Lambayeque and finally saw my new home and work place for the next two years! But before I went, me and the other Lambayeque volunteers had a few days of training in other sites around the area. It was really nice to see the protected forest, some ancient ruins, and stay with a few different families every night. I remember when we first got to the town closest to my pueblo, I was soooo happy because I just thought it was sooo beautiful. I love Lambayeque, it is beautiful and has a great climate! We went to a volunteers site who has finished her two years (almost) and played a game of volleyball with a few of the town members while everyone watched. It was so funny because I think they thought we were some kind of American volleyball team originally… but when we lost every game they realized their mistake. Also, the food was interesting every time. One afternoon, after a 3 hour walk, we got fed a big thing of rice and chicken. I was scarfing it down gratefully, noting the black things that looked like some kind of spice, but not caring too much about it. When I slowed down and took a closer look, I realized my food was FULL of dead ants. I gagged a little and couldn’t eat anymore. I shouldn’t have cared so much but eep, it was just not the time. Then I worried a little about my site’s food…
Luckily, my site is fantastic! I spent a night alone in my capital site of Chiclayo and in the morning I was picked up by my community partners, one of which is my new host Dad! We took the 3 hour trip together and when we got close to the town, the stopped the little moto taxi we were in and called someone… then I was worried. And worried for a good reason because when we arrive, the entire primary school was out in the street in their uniforms with signs saying “Bienvenidos Carolym!” Yes you read correctly, on every sign they spelled my name with an ‘m’… it was very comical! I proceeded to be very uncomfortable as I kissed all the teachers in greeting and stood awkwardly in front of all the kids who were staring at my with their big brown eyes. We all walked together to the school, where they set up a presentation for me. I stood around not knowing exactly what to do and the kids crowded around me as close as they could without touching me and without talking to me. When I tried to ask them questions, none of them said a word out of shyness. After a little probing, some of then finally said a few things to me like “when is your birthday?” and other questions like that. Then they proceeded to sing my the national anthem, do a dramatic poem, sing me a song, and do a meringue dance. The dance was my favorite part because I was sooo impressed with the little boy dancing like a bro. Afterwards, I found out that little boy is one of my host brothers!! Then all the administrative people said a few words saying how thankful they were that I was there and how I was going to do lots of good things. I was very uncomfortable, but also so overwhelmed by the kindness of it all. I said a few words to thank them all in bad, nervous Spanish. I then went to an awkward lunch with a bunch of community members where I wasn’t sure what to say and had a big piece of sheep meat.
After all the festivities, I went to my new host families house and was thrilled to meet all my adorable siblings and my new host Mom! I have 6 siblings in all, aged 5, 7, 12, 14, 16 and 18. They are all super sweet. That day, they took me down to the river to “bath.” Because I didn’t know what that entailed, I didn’t bring any bathing stuff with me, just three on some shorts and went with all my siblings. Turns out bathing means that we all swim in the river (the girls all wear shirts and shorts and the boys stay in their underwear) and they splash around playfully and wash their hair and stuff. Over the next three days with them, bathing became my favorite part of the day! We would go down and I would watch as the boys run around with spears catching fish in the river.
I feel like I am the luckiest volunteer in Peru. Even without running water or electricity. My site is BEAUTIFUL, there are banana trees, mango trees, coconut trees and avocado trees everywhere! When I walked to the river the first time, I felt like I was in a dream world. I have never seen fruit trees like that before. The best part is that all the kids in my area run around and collect fruit for me. I came back to Lima with a bag full of avocados to share with my family here. And oh my goodness the kids. They are sooo increadible. They are all so strong and work outside with the animals all the time. It’s soooo cool to see. At first it was a little strange to watch my 7 year old sister playing with a machete, but I got used to it because she is probably more skilled with that thing then I will ever be. It is so cool to watch how hard they work and how much fun they have with simple things like playing marbles outside or climbing up my window to see everything I’m doing. One of my favorite things I did while I was there was teach them a few new card games… their favorite of which was Egyptian Rat Screw. I had NOOO idea what to call it in Spanish, so I ended up calling it Guerra which means War. We played that until 11pm on Saturday night and then any other time they got the chance. It got a little old for me but I was just so happy to spend time with them and chat with them.
The other thing that makes my town awesome is that they LOVE soccer. I have already been solicited to be on the women’s team, but unfortunately our first game fell through so I haven’t played with them yet. But most of the young men in the town it seems like play every day from 5pm until dark. And on the weekends they have games against other towns, and they are serious. They were uniforms and have a set team and everything. Sunday I went to go watch the games while getting my nails done by my host sister and her friends.
Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better town. I am soooo happy with my family and my community. I cant wait to get to know them all better and improve my Spanish with them. Ever after just three days of pure Spanish, I feel like I have improved a lot… so that just says how much better I’ll be even three months from now!
Love you all, thanks for reading!
I went to Lambayeque and finally saw my new home and work place for the next two years! But before I went, me and the other Lambayeque volunteers had a few days of training in other sites around the area. It was really nice to see the protected forest, some ancient ruins, and stay with a few different families every night. I remember when we first got to the town closest to my pueblo, I was soooo happy because I just thought it was sooo beautiful. I love Lambayeque, it is beautiful and has a great climate! We went to a volunteers site who has finished her two years (almost) and played a game of volleyball with a few of the town members while everyone watched. It was so funny because I think they thought we were some kind of American volleyball team originally… but when we lost every game they realized their mistake. Also, the food was interesting every time. One afternoon, after a 3 hour walk, we got fed a big thing of rice and chicken. I was scarfing it down gratefully, noting the black things that looked like some kind of spice, but not caring too much about it. When I slowed down and took a closer look, I realized my food was FULL of dead ants. I gagged a little and couldn’t eat anymore. I shouldn’t have cared so much but eep, it was just not the time. Then I worried a little about my site’s food…
Luckily, my site is fantastic! I spent a night alone in my capital site of Chiclayo and in the morning I was picked up by my community partners, one of which is my new host Dad! We took the 3 hour trip together and when we got close to the town, the stopped the little moto taxi we were in and called someone… then I was worried. And worried for a good reason because when we arrive, the entire primary school was out in the street in their uniforms with signs saying “Bienvenidos Carolym!” Yes you read correctly, on every sign they spelled my name with an ‘m’… it was very comical! I proceeded to be very uncomfortable as I kissed all the teachers in greeting and stood awkwardly in front of all the kids who were staring at my with their big brown eyes. We all walked together to the school, where they set up a presentation for me. I stood around not knowing exactly what to do and the kids crowded around me as close as they could without touching me and without talking to me. When I tried to ask them questions, none of them said a word out of shyness. After a little probing, some of then finally said a few things to me like “when is your birthday?” and other questions like that. Then they proceeded to sing my the national anthem, do a dramatic poem, sing me a song, and do a meringue dance. The dance was my favorite part because I was sooo impressed with the little boy dancing like a bro. Afterwards, I found out that little boy is one of my host brothers!! Then all the administrative people said a few words saying how thankful they were that I was there and how I was going to do lots of good things. I was very uncomfortable, but also so overwhelmed by the kindness of it all. I said a few words to thank them all in bad, nervous Spanish. I then went to an awkward lunch with a bunch of community members where I wasn’t sure what to say and had a big piece of sheep meat.
After all the festivities, I went to my new host families house and was thrilled to meet all my adorable siblings and my new host Mom! I have 6 siblings in all, aged 5, 7, 12, 14, 16 and 18. They are all super sweet. That day, they took me down to the river to “bath.” Because I didn’t know what that entailed, I didn’t bring any bathing stuff with me, just three on some shorts and went with all my siblings. Turns out bathing means that we all swim in the river (the girls all wear shirts and shorts and the boys stay in their underwear) and they splash around playfully and wash their hair and stuff. Over the next three days with them, bathing became my favorite part of the day! We would go down and I would watch as the boys run around with spears catching fish in the river.
I feel like I am the luckiest volunteer in Peru. Even without running water or electricity. My site is BEAUTIFUL, there are banana trees, mango trees, coconut trees and avocado trees everywhere! When I walked to the river the first time, I felt like I was in a dream world. I have never seen fruit trees like that before. The best part is that all the kids in my area run around and collect fruit for me. I came back to Lima with a bag full of avocados to share with my family here. And oh my goodness the kids. They are sooo increadible. They are all so strong and work outside with the animals all the time. It’s soooo cool to see. At first it was a little strange to watch my 7 year old sister playing with a machete, but I got used to it because she is probably more skilled with that thing then I will ever be. It is so cool to watch how hard they work and how much fun they have with simple things like playing marbles outside or climbing up my window to see everything I’m doing. One of my favorite things I did while I was there was teach them a few new card games… their favorite of which was Egyptian Rat Screw. I had NOOO idea what to call it in Spanish, so I ended up calling it Guerra which means War. We played that until 11pm on Saturday night and then any other time they got the chance. It got a little old for me but I was just so happy to spend time with them and chat with them.
The other thing that makes my town awesome is that they LOVE soccer. I have already been solicited to be on the women’s team, but unfortunately our first game fell through so I haven’t played with them yet. But most of the young men in the town it seems like play every day from 5pm until dark. And on the weekends they have games against other towns, and they are serious. They were uniforms and have a set team and everything. Sunday I went to go watch the games while getting my nails done by my host sister and her friends.
Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better town. I am soooo happy with my family and my community. I cant wait to get to know them all better and improve my Spanish with them. Ever after just three days of pure Spanish, I feel like I have improved a lot… so that just says how much better I’ll be even three months from now!
Love you all, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
English lessons
This Tuesday was my favorite day of training so far. I had such an amazing day! It all started weeks ago when I told my host brother that teaches English that I really wanted to come to his school and see him teach sometime. But, sadly, PC training doesn’t allow much time for day visits to schools. So, as it turns out, PC arranged for us to have to teach an English class because about 90% or something of volunteers are asked to teach English in their communities. I told my host brother about this and he said I could come teach at his school, and so could other people if they wanted to. So, with only one day to plan, I told all the volunteers in the environment program that they could come teach at my brother’s school and almost all of them (pressed for time) agreed.
Entonces, when I went to his school this morning with a group of PC volunteers ready to teach, I was shocked at how we were greeted. The first thing we saw were kids leaning out of the windows of the school excitedly counting how many gringo’s there were. When we entered the school, we were met with stares, smiles, excited and shy students. We went to the classroom of my host brother, where the kids had all made themselves mini American flags and a welcome sign for us. They all said “good morning” and presented themselves to us, announcing what they knew about the environment in a very organized manner (it was sooo cute!). Then, me and my team members proceeded to teach classes. My class taught the “head, shoulders, knees and toes” song. It went over really well, teaching them different parts of the body and face, as well as getting them to stand up and move around. The others had good presentation ideas. The following two hours were almost a blur of more volunteer presentations and laughing at ourselves. When we asked the kids if they had any questions, some of then were easy like “can you sing your national anthem”… and yes, we all stood up and sang the anthem…. Very off key. Then, they sang their anthem (much better than us!) for us. It was so great. Some of the other questions were more difficult, like “how are the schools in the U.S.?” or “how many forests are there in the U.S.?” or “How hot does it get in the U.S.?” Then, after each class, they offered us snacks that they had prepared for us and then swarmed us for autographs. Yes, I said it. Autographs. They wanted us to sign their notebooks and American flags that they made, etc. It was soooo funny. I have never felt like more of a celebrity in my life. We were all literally swarmed.
Now let me say after the first two hours/classes, my fellow volunteers all went home to take the afternoon off (one of our only free afternoons!). But, I had promised my host brother that I would stay and see his classes, etc. As it turned out, every class in the school, even the ones that were not his, wanted to meet the Gringa. So, I was paraded around to each class to say hello, talk about Peace Corps, and in some cases, teach the song by myself. At first I was nervous to talk to groups of students by myself in Spanish, but I actually ended up really liking it. Kids are the most forgiving of all, they don’t care if I have a terrible accent or if I don’t make sense sometimes. Most classes had snacks for me, so I was eating all day. And every class had me take a picture with all of them, where the young girl students would always run up to grab my arm or try to be next to me or something. But I think the last class was my favorite because there were only about 7 kids in the class. I started out talking about Peace Corps and what it was, and then taught the song. Then I had to sit and eat the food they made me awkwardly in front of the whole class… so instead I put it in my lap and asked them if they had the most questions. Turned out they were the most inquisitive group. On my own, I drew a map of the U.S. and described the climates in different areas. I told them about American schools and food and NASA… because some of them had a big interest in space travel. And they taught me words for space ships, and different sports and foods. It was the most interactive I got to be with students and I instantly was in love with Peruvian Youth.
I guess I just loved the whole experience because I have never felt so interesting. Kids from other classes were peeking in windows to see me (or the other volunteers when they were there), they wanted my email and phone number, etc. They wanted me to sign things for heaven sakes. It might have been a little over the top, but it was really fun and I felt like I had really good interactions with most of the classes.
So, on the high of having a great day at my brothers school, I ran off to study Spanish with my fun teacher and then went directly to play a long soccer game in which my other host brother came and we all had a really good time… I even scored! My first goal against a Peruvian team! It was great.
This Saturday I leave for Feild based training in Lambayeque for a week! And I will get to see my future home for two years for the first time! Wish me luck.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Andes mountain voyages
I am going into week 7 of training and what a week 6 it was!
I started out by going to the zoo on Tuesday with my Spanish class and another class. It was a really good time and I really enjoyed seeing all the animals and just doing something other than study and learn how to be good volunteers. Then, Wednesday night, all of MAC (environment group) and Salud (health group) left for a trip to Ankash! Ankash is an Andes mountain region, and we were going to visit volunteers and get some field practice in real volunteer sites. We went on an overnight bus, which as impressive in terms of how comfortable it was and I slept the ENTIRE way.
I cannot express how beautiful it was there. These volunteers live in regions between 3,000 and 4,000 meters above sea level (and I don’t know what that is in feet, probably over 10,000 for sure). They have clear views when there are no clouds of ice capped mountains. One volunteer even has a national park nearby with a beautiful view of the mountains and a gorgeous glacier lake. The first site we went to, right after an overnight bus and feeling a little queesy from the altitude, we had to give presentations to little kids about trash, how to sort it, store it, etc. It was nerve racking, but we had to give three, and by the third one, we all felt a lot better. Afterwards we did a trash pick up with the kids in the town and it was an amazing amount of trash! The kids seemed to really enjoy it, and I hung out with some very shy little girls, helping them find stuff to fill up their trash bags. The next site was the one with the beautiful lake and mountain views, where we got up at 5:30 in the morning the next day to help with a community clean up (more trash!). Afterwards, we went to the school where two different classes presented numerous songs in Spanish and Quechua. They also were incredibly environmentally forwards in this school, having recycled goods all over the classroom and sorting their trash between organic and inorganic. I was very impressed. We then spent the rest of the day mostly walking around and looking and pretty things like animals and mountains. The third day was Halloween, and then volunteer was already in costume when we arrived, giving us talks about tree planting as a pirate! It was pretty comical.
In terms of altitude, the PC doctors gave us all pills to take to help with altitude sickness, which include nausea, headaches, and soreness. I didn’t really want to take them, but I did, and unfortunately, I still got a little sickness. Most of us did actually, mostly because of the new types of foods we were eating and how high we were. I found I was exhausted all the time and was never hungry. Every meal I had to force myself to eat a little and nothing ever looked appetizing (although, I’m sure in Lima it would have looked great… my stomach was just not up for much). The MAC group spent the two nights in sites either sleeping in peoples houses in their guest beds, or sleeping on the floors of the volunteers rooms. Lucky for me, I got a bed both nights. But, none of us had showers, and none of us had toilets for about 4 days. I guess it is a good thing to get used to because I wont have either of those things on a regular basis for two years! But really, going to the bathroom in a hole is not bad at all, it is almost comfortable. Salud on the other hand, apparently had hotels with HOT showers, which I am still envious about. Oh, and did I mention is was COLD. I was a little unprepared because I don’t have a coat, but I wore about 3 layers for two days and the second day I was freezing cold allllll day long. Luckily, the third day was a lot warmer and sunnier. We spent Halloween day and night in the main city of Huaras and wandered around looking at markets and cafes. A group of us eventually found a place for dinner that felt like a ski lodge, was warm, and had pretty Americanized food like sandwiches and quesadillas! After having no appetite and stomach pain for days, a change from Peruvian food was highly welcomed. We spent the night on the bus again, arrive home at 5:30 in the morning and I went directly home to sleep for another 2-3 hours.
Oh… and did I mention I have a cell phone now? Thank you Peace Corps! It has free incoming calls and texts from anywhere, so if you want to call me (long distance…), just shoot me an e-mail and I’ll send you the number! Love you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
