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.