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