Monday, October 31, 2005

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…

Saturday, October 08, 2005

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.