Merry Christmas 2005 !!!

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND HEALTHY CHRISTMAS!! I´m spending this year with my host family in the city of Trujillo. We´ll begin the holiday at midnight on the 25th, with hot chocolate and fruitcake. They begin opening christmas gifts at midnight and stay up till 2 or 3am dancing and celebrating the holiday. During the daytime of the 25th, they relax, enjoy the company of family and rest from a long night. CHEERS TO CHRISTMAS IN PERÚ!!

American humor, gone. Comradery, gone. Invaluable advice, gone. The English language, gone.

12-12-05
Just when I thought I had this whole Peace Corps job figured out, everything changed. No matter how much training/preparation we received these past three months, nothing could have prepared me for those first couple of days in my new site. The overwhelming feeling that this is my permanent home began to freak me out a little. Just when I was getting accustomed to my host family during training, the town of Santa Eulalia, and the different ways of transportation and communication, we graduated and moved.

“We” is an interesting word because “we” consisted of my allies, my fellow confidantes who were just as crazy as I am for accepting this assignment, and whom I began to trust and love. The 31 other volunteers whom I spent every moment with for the past 10 weeks have been scattered over eight different departments within Perú. I am at least four hours away from another volunteer. More likely five, given the means of transportation here.

Therefore, not only was it difficult to move into this new town, Carata, but more so to say goodbye to an incredible support system of volunteers. American humor, gone. Comradery, gone. Invaluable advice, gone. The English language, gone. I really began to wonder how everyone else is doing in there sites, and how much I would love to hear about their experiences. But there’s no cell service, and the closest internet is 2.5 hours down the Andes Mountains!

I am now living without drinkable water, using a latrine (read: out-house), taking a cold shower once, maybe twice a week (if I force myself). The whole hygiene issue could be another chapter. There is no refrigerator, microwave or oven. My family cooks over a fire in a smoky kitchen. In my diet, dairy and green vegetables don’t exist. There is one satellite phone booth for the whole town. And when it rings, a young girl calls out for the person! "Juaaannnnnn, telefono!" Electricity arrived two years ago, and fortunately it works 24/7. We have a pig, chickens, a rabbit, and too many cuy to count.

Did I mention how cold it is? And supposedly it’s summer here!?! It gets so cold at night, I’ve been sleeping in a bed inside a sleeping bag, with four blankets. And I wear long underwear. I can see my breath. It warms up during the day but not quite enough to wear short sleeves. We are having a drought this year and it’s affecting everyone. It hasn’t rained for months. Water usually runs out daily, so families try to save it in buckets, but than that leaves even less for everyone else. I witnessed a woman kill a chicken with her bare hands yesterday. Then we ate it. If I eat one more serving of potatoes or rice I’m going to explode.

Although this entry sounds incredibly pessimistic, I really wouldn’t want this experience to be any other way. This was the original reason why I applied for PC. Having become a comfortable yuppie in the states, it was time for a change. I wanted to be completely out of my comfort zone, I wanted to live in a place where I would be challenged, and I wanted to make sacrifices. I got what I asked for…..
Everyday presents a new challenge. Everyday I am slaying my dragons but most certainly I’m building character and accepting this world around me as my new reality.

I´m a PC Volunteer!

I have arrived in Trujillo, and will be traveling onto my site tomorrow morning. We´ve graduated from training as of Friday, and have officially sworn in as peace corps volunteers! I´m excited to be moving into my pernament home, but also sad to say goodbye to everyone i´ve been in training with. i may not see some of them until mid service conference, one year from now. we recieved our cell phones, equipted with built in flash lights, which will probably prove more useful in my town cause i won´t have any service. most of us won´t have service, but when we travel into our capital cities to get mail, or go to the bank we can use them. $10 a month isn´t bad for a phone.
Our Thankgiving, Peace Corps style-------->

If you want to communicate with me download msn messenger. you´ll need a hotmail address. this will probably be the best and cheapest way for me to keep in touch with everyone. msn messenger is very popular here and is on every computer at internet cafe´s. my screen name is ¨mateolindsley¨

I´ll be living in the mountains about 2 hours from the closest town with internet. therefore, i won´t be online as much, maybe once a week if that. if i´m online and you want to chat, say hi, i´d love to hear from you all. love you, Matt

The enormous welcoming

Carata en la noche. ps. you can click on these pics to enlarge.
School teachers, my counter-part (in blue vest), and host father (in red).
School kids dancing at my welcome ceremony.

My introduction to the community.

"Carata"-home sweet home...

The center of town. Aerial view of entire village---->
"Main street". ------>
Local school, elementary-high school.

Fotos from Ancash and La Libertad

Ancoraca, Ancash a quechua community. Doug(in blue jacket) and
other pc volunteers from Ancash

Aerial view of Ancoraca

Huraz, Ancash. The depart. capital for some volunteers.

The end of training…and the beginning of service!

Happy Thanksgiving! With only one week left of training, I’m feeling like it’s time to say goodbye all over again. This time it will be to the close friends I’ve meet over these past two months, my host family, and Peace Corps staff. They undoubtedly put together, the most comprehensive training to prepare us for just about anything in our sites. It’s like we just arrived; but yet, it also feels like we’ve been here forever! Strange how time plays with you like that.

I’ve overcome many obstacles to graduate from this training and become an official volunteer. All of us have had days where we’ve been sick, tired, had bad Spanish days, been hung-over, homesick, injured, stressed out and just plain sad. Fortunately those days were few, and we were able to look into the future and imagine the incredible work we will complete at our new sites. All my training projects have come to an end at this point.

I shadowed a nurse for a couple of weeks and made two health brochures for her clinic, taught local teenagers about productive internet use, and presented various “charlas” about nutrition, hygiene, diarrhea, and respiratory infections. I acted in many skits, collaborated with other trainees in a town clean up day, started my own garden at home, ran a 10K road race, and sat thorough hours and hours of training about leadership, motivation, community development and sustainability, the gov. structure of Perú, cultural awareness and sensitivity, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The most memorable week was our site visits and the anticipation leading up to receiving our assignments. We found out on a Tuesday afternoon and had 3-4 hours to pack so we could leave that night for our sites. After various interviews, our supervisors carefully placed us in communities they determined would be the best fit. Some of us will be working in cities or small towns, some on the coast and others in the mountains. I’ll be living in the Andes Mountain’s of La Libertad, in a tiny town called Carata.

During our site visits we were all paired with existing volunteers who’ve been in their towns working for at least a year. We shadowed them for a couple of days before traveling to our sites. I was fortunate enough to see two different departments (the equivalent of states), Ancash being the first than La Libertad. I spent 4 days with Doug M. His town is very similar to mine, and therefore it was a good match. He is also a health volunteer, so we did some house visits to new mothers, attended a couple of community meetings, celebrated the school anniversary, and ate meals at various houses in the community. Doug made an effort to eat all three meals at different homes his first couple months in hopes of meeting all the towns people. Although his town is Quechua speaking (an indigenous Incan language) and mine is not, I didn’t have too much difficulty understanding the people during my stay because most spoke Spanish as well. Doug has just completed his two years and is finished with his service, therefore he had some excellent advice for me as a new volunteer.

My community gave me a tremendous welcome when I arrived for the visit. Unfortunately I was only scheduled to stay 2.5 days but that didn’t stop them from going all out. From Trujillo, (the capital city of La Libertad) the drive out to Otuzco than to Carata is less than desirable. The road is paved up to Otuzco than becomes a one lane, winding dirt path, straight up the side of a mountain. The views are spectacular! I’ll be living at ~9,800 ft above sea level. The trip to Carata was a bit complicated with a few stops to meet important people I’ll be working with, and most are ecstatic for my arrival.

Three and half hours later I drove up to this small village, and awaiting us was a large crowd of people, mostly school children neatly organized in front of the health post. I asked a Dr.(who was with me) what this was all about and he replied that it was for me! 250+ towns-people were waiting for my arrival, holding welcome signs, banners and smiles on their faces. I was in shock! Could this really be happening? The children were very well dressed in school uniforms, each class had made their own welcome sign for me, some said “Thank You”, others said “Welcome Mr. Nurse”, or “Welcome Peace Corps Volunteer, Matthew”.

I’ve read stories about people’s first impression of their community, and never could believe this could be happening. I immediately knew I was perfect for this village. Their feelings were written on their faces, joy, anticipation, reservation, and fear. Most of the crowd stared at me as I sat on “stage” among the panel of speakers. I sat with the mayor, the school director, my new host father, and a doctor from a distant town. I knew I would have to speak but wasn’t worried because the whole situation was so surreal. And no warning this would be happening!?!?! Just another crazy day in Perú.

My new host family was already chosen by the community. Juan and Mena, are brother and sister and rent rooms to the school teachers in town. I’ll have a private room, but have large meals with 8-10 people daily. The house is one of the oldest in town, but is perfect for my needs, and everyone seems friendly and positive. Juan gave me a tour of the town, and Mena cooked my meals during the stay. They have a husky and two small dogs. I also spent a lot of time with Rosa who is my counterpart, the main person I will be working with. She is a technical nurse, which is basically an LPN in the states. A health post had been built 6 years ago in Carata but wasn’t opened until Sept.of this year, for lack of staff. Rosa agreed to move to the town and open the post.

The two of us will make up the staff, for the 700 people of Carata, and 3 other surrounding villages. I will not be working as an R.N. in the traditional sense of treating patients, but I will be making house visits, teaching, training health promoters, working with traditional healers, creating health campaigns, assisting Rosa, and visiting the local schools in the other villages. My exact position is unclear, as I am an unusual volunteer who happens to be a nurse. My role may continue to change throughout my service. I met with the school director and he’s convinced I’d make a great English and computer teacher(which is hilarious because I wouldn’t know how to begin to teach either of those subjects, nor do I have any experience!) It seems like everyone wants to utilize me in some capacity, which I foresee as challenge (read: defining my role). Needless to say, I feel very accepted, comfortable and wanted in this strange new town, and they’re waiting with arms wide open. Love you all, Matt

Our house in la parca.
Teaching at a comedor popular.
Happy Halloween!
My host family, The Almendaris's.
Miraflores, Lima. A rich gringo section of the city.
My abuela.

the journey continues

Wow, time sure does fly… I hoped to have written an entry at the one month mark, but since last week slipped by so quickly, here’s to 5 weeks in-country! So much to report on…! My host family continues to amaze me everyday. They are so warm and affectionate. I’ve begun to understand my sister’s dry humor and have even developed a hilarious repartee with her. Her brother is just as cool, very eager to teach me about music and fútbol, help me with projects, and like every good brother, tease his sister. I met Blanca’s mom (the most eccentric grandmother) who stayed with us for a week. She a retired psych nurse, who’s very witty and wise. We could talk for hours. P.S. she’s the same age as Gigi!

Papi (Blanca’s husband) has come home the past couple of weekends and stays for a while before heading back to work which is 6-7 hours in bus. He’s a very educated, worldly man. I can tell he wishes he lived closer. He works for a Perúvian radio station. I’m convinced that this first month could have turned out much differently had I not had such a welcoming family. They are making the transition much more feasible.

Here’s a list of some things I’m still getting used to…..

Cold showers.
Getting electrocuted while taking a shower.
The milk and cheese.
Our morning wake-up by “Paulino” the parrot.
Saying hello to EVERYONE on the street, at all times of day.
Greeting women cheek to cheek.
Eating cuy. (More bones than meat, I’d try it again)
Throwing rocks at local dogs when running.
The constant smell of burning trash.
Hitch-hiking. (yep. It’s sketchy)
Eating soup with chicken claws in it. ---<
Breast feeding in public. (it’s just, normal)
Walking up every morning and convincing myself this is not a dream!

I’ve found a couple of favorite foods/dishes and drinks. The fruit here is alright but doesn’t compare to Costa Rica. Perhaps in another region the fruit is better. Beer is very cheep and not bad. There’s a malt brand I like (weird?) and of course the national cocktail, “Pisco Sour”-which is a great mixed drink. Aside from the food, I can feel myself slowly adapting to the Perúvian way of life, which is very laid back and passive. The general attitude is typical of many latin countries, “If it happens it happens, if not, we’re not going to worry about it”. Meetings often start late, sometimes hours late. Nothing every runs “on schedule”, and greetings are very important, both arrival and departure. One may ask, does anything every get done?! Yes, but at a different speed, in it’s own way. I just have to remain open to the “unexpected”.

Peace Corps pre-service training continues to kick our asses. We’re not even considered volunteers until we graduate. All the locals in this town know of the Peace Corps, because of the other groups that have come through. They call us “aspirantes” which means candidates or applicants to Peace Corps. We’ll “graduate”, and “swear in” in one month and officially start our 2 years of service on Dec. 3. The training hasn’t been that bad, it is very similar to other leadership trainings I’ve been through, for Americorps, or as a R.A. in college.

Learning/Improving my existing Español could be better. I was convinced that we would be speaking very little English when we got here but the majority of our training is in English. This is due to the fact that there is a large range in language abilities among the 33 of us. By the time our training is up we are all expected to be at an mid-intermediate level of Spanish. We had Spanish interviews our first weekend here, fortunately I tested above the minimum requirement. My class is basically a joke, not because it’s easy, because Peace Corps doesn’t really know what to do with us. I’ve had to take it upon myself to learn my grammatical hang-ups.

So although the language class isn’t stressing me out, the side projects are. We visited a very poor school and sat in on a class. The town is so bad off, the first thing the principal said to us when we arrived was, “I’m sorry”. (for the condition of the school) The walls were paper thin, supplies were at a shortage, many of the kids hadn’t eaten breakfast, and there was no running water. And yet, spirits were high, they couldn’t get enough of us, and made the most of what they had. We’re going back this week to do a play about hand-washing, bacteria and parasites.
We also visited a “comedor popular” our equivalent is a soup kitchen. This town in the mountains was much better off and small, but modern. All the roads were paved and although there are only three shared cars for 2000 people, most don’t need to leave the mountain. After working in the kitchen for a day, we came back two weeks later to give a presentation about nutrition, and hygiene. I even got to make an announcement over the town loud speaker to invite the farmers working way out in their fields. Our presentation was huge success.

This is my first position as a development worker and I’m beginning to see why Peace Corps exists. I didn’t need to study nursing for 5 years at a private university to be effective here. My common knowledge will take me very far. On of my challenges in being a successful change agent will be, helping to build a sustainable community without using financial resources from the outside. The old sayings, “Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a life time”, and “It takes a village to raise a child” are proving to be true. Sometimes the resources are available, and the current state can improve it just takes a good idea and some motivation. God, I love this job.

I’m running in a 10k road race sponsored by Nike next weekend. 5 of us from P.C. are running together. I’m really not in shape to be running such a race but it’s mostly for fun and has motivated me to get out and exercise. It’s good for my mental health too. We had a Halloween party at my place this past weekend. I was a pirate. Complete with a hook and everything. My host dad’s ingenious ideas worked perfectly! I was impressed with the variety of costumes, everything from Freddy Mercury to a tapeworm (yeah Jocelyn!). We rocked out, devoured s’mores next to a bon-fire and indulged ourselves in some American foods, such as Doritos, Oreos, chip and dip, fruit salad, brownies, caramel squares, bruscheta, and the ubiquitous party favorite, Jello shots. Oh it’s good to be an American. It was probably the best Halloween I’ve had in a long time and it’s not even celebrated here! Until next entry…

the begining!

In just one week, I’ve begun a new job in a new country and moved in with a new family. Yes, it has been a lot to digest. 35 bright Americans met in Arlington, VA on Sept. 21st to begin a new chapter in our lives as Peace Corps volunteers. We’re a diverse group from every region of the US including Alaska, Washington, Texas, Florida and New Hampshire. We come with tremendous experience in the fields of health and environmental education.

None of us could imagine what exactly we would be doing in South America for the next two years. But we knew the uncertainty excited us and the mystery sent shivers through our bones. We had quit our jobs, sold our cars, gave away our pets and said goodbye to our loved ones to board a plane for a new life thousands of miles away from home.

Peru is what would become our home. A country of 26 million people, with an unstable economy corrupt government and one unpopular president after another, it is also booming with possibility. There are few places in the world that offer snow covered peaks, sandy deserts, fertile valleys, and dense tropics.

We stepped of the plane and met Kathy and Michael who head up the Peace Corps Peru staff. We stayed in Huampani a town outside of the capital last weekend. The staff introduced themselves and we discovered our new name is Peru 6. We are the sixth group from the states since 2002. Outside, the mountains surrounded us and the air was dry and dusty. Never have I lived in such an environment. The weather was bearable, low 60’s in the morning and late evening and low 80’s during the day. Nothing new for a “New Englander”.

They drove us to St. Eulalia a small town in the mountains where we would begin a ten week training and meet our host families. We dropped our bags and explored the training center like the new cast of “real world” in their new crib. There are small class rooms, large meeting rooms, an outdoor patio, a basketball court, a garden an empty pool and many offices. Perfect!

As we waited on the basketball court for our new families to arrive, I could help but feel like a dog at an SPCA waiting for a worthy owner to come and purchase me. Blanca and her daughter Carola (16 y/o) where the lucky ones. They were eager to bring me home and introduce me to the rest of the family. I met Alvaro (17 y/o), and the grandparents who live next door. We also have two labs, Bunker and Willy and a couple of cats who live on the roof, parrot another cat with four kittens and about 50 “cuy” ( guinea pigs) that the family will sell to eat once they are full grown. Yes, “cuy” is a delicacy here as is rabbit.

We went running out of the house a couple of hours after I arrived due to a small tremor from an earthquake a couple of miles away. Another small tremor passed on Wednesday at school. Evidently this is common this time of year. Sweet. St. Eulalia is very poor and health is definitely a priority for people. The craziest thing is that these people are pretty well off. They have portable water, electricity, waste disposal, farms and transportation. My permanent site will have even more poverty. Everyone is town has been kind to us, most know what were doing here. My family has had two other “aspirantes” living with them in the past during this temporary training.

The next ten weeks will be grueling due to the amount of work we’ll have to complete. I’ve already begun multiple projects, including shadowing a local nurse, planting two large gardens, running a computer class, and teaching a dental health program. We’ll be visiting schools, health centers and soup kitchens in the area to get a better idea of what to expect. The training staff want us to be very prepared before we move to our permanent sites! Love you all, Mateo

photos from first week

A hike with local peruvian kids, and Sarah. An aerial view of our town.

At the training center in St. Eulalia, eating lunch.