It’s been a little while since my last update so there is a lot to fill everyone in on. The month of December is just about to end and a few weeks back I passed the one-month mark in site. I know, not a huge accomplishment on the grand scale of things but it was “high-five” worthy for me and the other Peru 14-ers in Ancash…it’s all about the little steps.
Things here in Huashcao have been going well. No large sustainable project plan yet, but I have been keeping busy. This coming week (the last in December) marks the official end of the school year here in Peru. Starting in January the kids go on a two-month summer vacation until March. The summer here is going to be great!... The whether channel is calling for two months of rain and colder temperatures. What an awesome time to be on vacation huh?
The next few months should be an interesting part of my service. Due to the above factors of no school and constant rain I am going to use this time to hunker down and write/work on my community diagnostic. It will be a lot of interviewing, talking, and shadowing of various people and it should keep me relatively busy during the rainy season. Other than working on my diagnostic I have been teaching in the schools. It has been a good few weeks to get to know the kids and teachers and I have been able to line up some more “permanent” teaching opportunities for the upcoming school year. For now this part of the job will go on hold when school lets out this week. I will still continue teaching a bit during the summer vacation with my weekly English class in the community center. I hope to add another day of class during the vacation period and dedicate half of each class period to environmental education and the other half English. I think I can lure them in for a second day with the idea of English classes and a weekly viewing of the Planet Earth series. Not that they won’t enjoy my (sure to be) fascinating environmental classes, but right now these aren’t on the front of their minds. That’s where the DVDs come in. So with any luck I will be teaching a little English and environment class as well as working more seriously on my diagnostic. When all else fails I can always head to the chacra (field) with my dad and put in a good days work.
That’s the “job” side of things for now. Christmas came and went a little differently this year. There weren’t any carols or Christmas trees but I did find myself eating a mountain of hot chocolate and panetón. The latter being a very sweet fruitcake that every single person here loves. I didn’t learn to love it but it was a nice treat the first few times I ate it. Then I ate it a lot more. The week leading up to Christmas and on Christmas itself we had the panetón/hot chocolate combo at least once a day. Some were at the schools, others in the health post, and on Chirstmas eve/day at my house. I’m ready for a break until next year. I spent the majority of Christmas day playing board games like chess and checkers with the host family (I’m still undefeated in chess and humiliated in my checkers ability). We had a big lunch with some more of the pig (yeah he’s still around after a month…) and relaxed. Not the typical Christmas, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. The Ancash volunteers had a chance to celebrate the holidays our own way the week before Christmas in Huaraz. We all got together and made dinner that was followed by a gift exchange, Christmas music, and wine. It was a good way to unwind for the holidays with our own traditions.
This is also the time of year for school graduations. The Peruvians enjoy celebrating kindergarten, primary school, and high school graduations in style. I had the privilege of being invited to the secondary school promoción as it is called. The festivities included a huge meal of picante de cuy (guinea pig/my new favorite dish), dancing to cumbia and huayno music (youtube those), and lots of warm cheap beer (ah, remember freshman year?). A good time was had by all and soon into the dance portion I was pulled up to show off the gringo skills. Don’t worry if you weren’t there to watch, there is plenty of video footage that I am sure will eventually make its way to youtube. The word is already drifting around town. For now just use your imagination: Peter awkwardly dancing amongst Peruvian high school graduates. That’s to help you get started. The promoción raged on long after I left, but it was fun while it lasted.
That’s the quick update from the Andes. This week for new years me, Alex, Kaitlyn, and Jess (my fellow 14-ers in Ancash) plan to take a new years day hike up to a lake in Huascaran National Park. It is about an hour away from me and right up the road from Jess’ site. That should be fun if we can sneak it in before the rain comes. Other than that things have been going well. I have been learning a bit more Quechua, realizing how many boiled potatoes I can eat in one sitting (the number is rising well over 15), introducing my host brother to the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, reading, working in the fields, and countless of other activities with my family and the community. Things are all good down south!
I hope everyone enjoyed/is enjoying the holidays. Whenever you get a chance fill me in on how things are going wherever you may be. More updates to come…
Cheers,
Pete
12/30/2009
11/27/2009
It’s official. I am a real Peace Corps volunteer. I have been at my site since Monday afternoon. My site you ask? It’s amazing.
We all found out our sites a few weeks back at the main PC office in Lima. I was lucky enough to be placed in the department of Ancash. The name of my site is Huashcao. It is a really small village in the Andes Mountains that sits at the bottom of the majestic mountain of Huascaran (see picture in other post). The entire community has about 900 people spread out in a “city” center and 4 surrounding “caserios” or annexes. All in all a very tiny but beautiful place to be living. Three weeks ago we all left Lima for a week for another field based training and a site visit of our soon to be homes. Everyone came back with tons of interesting and funny stories of their new families, houses, communities, and general gringo happenings. We spent our last week together in Chaclacayo fixing up odds and ends and bringing everything to a close. We threw a party for our host families last Friday at the center with food, entertainment, and of course more food. Then on Saturday morning we were officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. There was a big red, white, and blue tent, music, some more food, and speeches from our country director, a host father, a representative from the embassy, and our very own president of the training class. It was a great ceremony.
Then just like that we packed up our things and got ready for the real world. My bus left Saturday night at 11pm and arrived in Huaraz (the “big” city in my area) Sunday morning at 6am. I arrived with my three friends and fellow new Ancash volunteers to the hostel with all our belongings and a lot of uncertainty. We enjoyed the great city of Huaraz (we lucked out, Huaraz is awesome) on Sunday and made dinner in the hostel. Monday morning we hit the market to buy everything you would need for two years. This included the basics like a mattress all the way to the “must haves” like hand made Andean artisan craft and wool sweaters. We had lunch and then gathered in the PC regional coordinator’s 4x4 with all our stuff. There was a lot of it. We packed the car full and then had the hilarious task of tying our 3 mattresses on the top. And with that we drove away from the city and up into the mountains to all of our individual sites. We were dropped off and told to have fun and be safe. Now the job really starts….
My site has been great so far. My new host family is amazing. They are funny and really glad that I am here which helps out a lot. It’s already awkward enough being the only gringo in a very small rural town that speaks Quechua as its main language. Oh yeah did I mention that? Well Quechua is the lingua franca here in Huashcao. Spanish is a close second. Almost everyone speaks Spanish but chooses to communicate first in Quechua. This will pose a bit of a fun challenge until I learn some Quechua myself. So far I have down “the rain is coming” which is a key phrase that is useful every afternoon here due to the rainy season. I haven’t completed any milestone projects yet but the people are all very friendly and have expressed interest in some environmental related projects, which is great. I have the next three months to complete my community diagnostic, which will include what the community wants, needs, lacks, and all the basic info in between. So my job for the next few months is to hang out and chat it up with everyone of every age here in my site. I love hanging out and talking so this should be fun. After that I can start directing my focus to the planning and carrying out of specific projects. What an adventure it will be!
I sit here writing this on Thanksgiving Day. No turkey, but luckily (or un-luckily?) my pig was suffering from the cold so we killed him this morning. So far nothing but skin, blood, and intestines have come from him but as of now it looks like we will have a feast tonight. Maybe not the traditional Thanksgiving feast, but big old mountain pork is a pretty good second!
Tomorrow I am meeting up with the other Ancash volunteers in Huaraz to celebrate Thanksgiving in our own way without slaughtering a pig. It should be great to talk and compare stories from the week.
That’s all I have for now, hope the holiday found you all in good spirits with good spirits!
Chao,
Pete
The swear-in ceremony. Awesome.
We all found out our sites a few weeks back at the main PC office in Lima. I was lucky enough to be placed in the department of Ancash. The name of my site is Huashcao. It is a really small village in the Andes Mountains that sits at the bottom of the majestic mountain of Huascaran (see picture in other post). The entire community has about 900 people spread out in a “city” center and 4 surrounding “caserios” or annexes. All in all a very tiny but beautiful place to be living. Three weeks ago we all left Lima for a week for another field based training and a site visit of our soon to be homes. Everyone came back with tons of interesting and funny stories of their new families, houses, communities, and general gringo happenings. We spent our last week together in Chaclacayo fixing up odds and ends and bringing everything to a close. We threw a party for our host families last Friday at the center with food, entertainment, and of course more food. Then on Saturday morning we were officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. There was a big red, white, and blue tent, music, some more food, and speeches from our country director, a host father, a representative from the embassy, and our very own president of the training class. It was a great ceremony.
Then just like that we packed up our things and got ready for the real world. My bus left Saturday night at 11pm and arrived in Huaraz (the “big” city in my area) Sunday morning at 6am. I arrived with my three friends and fellow new Ancash volunteers to the hostel with all our belongings and a lot of uncertainty. We enjoyed the great city of Huaraz (we lucked out, Huaraz is awesome) on Sunday and made dinner in the hostel. Monday morning we hit the market to buy everything you would need for two years. This included the basics like a mattress all the way to the “must haves” like hand made Andean artisan craft and wool sweaters. We had lunch and then gathered in the PC regional coordinator’s 4x4 with all our stuff. There was a lot of it. We packed the car full and then had the hilarious task of tying our 3 mattresses on the top. And with that we drove away from the city and up into the mountains to all of our individual sites. We were dropped off and told to have fun and be safe. Now the job really starts….
My site has been great so far. My new host family is amazing. They are funny and really glad that I am here which helps out a lot. It’s already awkward enough being the only gringo in a very small rural town that speaks Quechua as its main language. Oh yeah did I mention that? Well Quechua is the lingua franca here in Huashcao. Spanish is a close second. Almost everyone speaks Spanish but chooses to communicate first in Quechua. This will pose a bit of a fun challenge until I learn some Quechua myself. So far I have down “the rain is coming” which is a key phrase that is useful every afternoon here due to the rainy season. I haven’t completed any milestone projects yet but the people are all very friendly and have expressed interest in some environmental related projects, which is great. I have the next three months to complete my community diagnostic, which will include what the community wants, needs, lacks, and all the basic info in between. So my job for the next few months is to hang out and chat it up with everyone of every age here in my site. I love hanging out and talking so this should be fun. After that I can start directing my focus to the planning and carrying out of specific projects. What an adventure it will be!
I sit here writing this on Thanksgiving Day. No turkey, but luckily (or un-luckily?) my pig was suffering from the cold so we killed him this morning. So far nothing but skin, blood, and intestines have come from him but as of now it looks like we will have a feast tonight. Maybe not the traditional Thanksgiving feast, but big old mountain pork is a pretty good second!
Tomorrow I am meeting up with the other Ancash volunteers in Huaraz to celebrate Thanksgiving in our own way without slaughtering a pig. It should be great to talk and compare stories from the week.
That’s all I have for now, hope the holiday found you all in good spirits with good spirits!
Chao,
Pete
The swear-in ceremony. Awesome.
My dad preparing our spur of the moment thanksgiving feast.
A view from my backyard. Pretty beautiful eh?
The patio of the new house, as seen from my room.
A view from my backyard. Pretty beautiful eh?
The patio of the new house, as seen from my room.
11/05/2009
more photos
Here you go...a few more pictures that have finally uploaded. The first few are more from the Ancash trip last week, then I added a random shot of my neighborhood of Yanacoto. Enjoy!
This is the small village we gave our trash talks in...they all seemed to enjoy watching six gringos dig a hole (the micro-relleno) afterward.
Our mini-FBT group at the ruins near Pashpa in Ancash.
The mighty Huascaran. Tallest peak in the Andes at nearly 6800m...it's huge.
And the panoramic shot of Yanacoto...home sweet home during training.
11/04/2009
So I finally had enough patience to sit down and upload a few photos of my surroundings here in Peru. They say pictures are worth a thousand words...now you won't have to read five thousand more of my boring words. Enjoy!
Our trash diagnostic during our dia de practica. The MAC group never looked so good.
The pool and back porch of the training center. The pool is off limits don't worry. The have threatened death upon anyone who goes for a swim.
Our trash diagnostic during our dia de practica. The MAC group never looked so good.
Lomas de Lachay during the winter, green season. Pretty amazing place.
Me and the family at an all day bingo event a few weeks back. We won the beers in a ring toss game...way better than a stuffed animal.
up in the andes
It has been a while since my last post. Training is slowly coming to an end and things here have been very busy the last few weeks. We have recently begun week 8 of the 10 week training program. The time here is flying by! The highlight of the last few weeks has most definitely been our mini field based training in the department of Ancash.
Ancash is the department or region (similar to a state) directly north of the department of Lima. We spent last Thursday thru Saturday in Ancash around the city of Huaraz. Huaraz is located in the heart of the Andes Mountains and right below what is know as the Cordillera Blanca. The Cordillera Blanca is the stretch of Andes with the most snow capped peaks, hence the name. It is an unbelievably beautiful site. Due to the large amount of peaks and other outdoor activities in the area Huaraz has an outdoor touristic side to it. Many trekkers and climbers come from all over to explore the Andes around Huaraz.
On Thursday morning we arrived in the city of about 55,000 people at 6am after our night bus from Lima. The bus was surprisingly comfortable…as comfortable as an 8 hour bus ride can be. The seats reclined and I was asleep as soon as we left Lima. Once off the bus we split into our groups within MAC and loaded our car for the week. My group of six was awesome and we had our APCD (basically our MAC boss in Peace Corps jargon) as our leader. We all piled into one of the PC 4x4 trucks and headed out of Huaraz to a little town called Pashpa. This was about 30 minutes away from the capital city and a good distance up into the mountains and the Peruvian countryside. I think the pueblo was located at 3600m above sea level….pretty high up there! We spent the day with a current volunteer who has lived in Pashpa for a year now. We had a charla about the tree nursery there and planted a few trees around the health post. We spent the afternoon hiking around to some pre-Incan ruins that were in the area. Pretty incredible to see considering how well maintained they are for being a few thousand years old! That night we had dinner at the volunteer’s house. A true campo (rural) meal of…you guessed it...potatoes and guinea pig. To all the haters out there and members of PETA you would be surprised. The guinea pig (cuy in Spanish) was actually pretty good. It was a bit tough to eat mainly because it was comprised of bone and skin but it tasted great. It truly falls under the cliché of “it tastes like chicken”. One of the kids in my group didn’t want theirs so I was able to have two helpings…how lucky! So if anyone is curious I have a good recipe if you want to head to the nearest PetSmart and buy your next meal!
The second day of the mini-FBT we spent a bit further down the mountain in a pueblo called Collon. Here we gave a few charlas about trash management (we love trash) to some local people. In true Peace Corps fashion the people were not there for the talk and we ended up giving the talk pretty informally to some local men and women we gathered from the pueblo. After the talk it was time to put our words into practice. We built a micro-relleno in the community. This is really just a hole in the ground where people can throw their trash…don’t be too impressed. It was a great hole though, and the people stood around to watch and some helped us to build it. Actually one of the townsmen dug the majority of the hole a LOT faster than we could have. We were there for the moral support though which was good. After lunch we headed to the last stop on the trip, which was a smaller town about an hour away.
The last town we were in was in the footprint of Huascaran, the tallest peak of the Andes at 6700m or about 22,000 ft. It’s an incredible sight. It towers above everything else around it and when the clouds clear you can see the majestic snow capped peak…pretty awe-inspiring. We spent the day up in one part of Huascaran National Park near a glacial lake called Llanganuco. It was hands down the most beautiful area of Peru I have seen to date. Stunning blue-green water surrounded by Huascaran and other nevados (snow capped mountains). After spending some time here we did what all good Peace Corps volunteers would do at this point: go swimming in the cold glacial lake. We left our clothes on the shoreline and jumped in for a few cold seconds. It was an awesome time! After our time in the park we headed back to Huaraz and spent a few hours in the city before our bus left again at 11pm. We celebrated Halloween with a few beers at a local bar and then made the trip back to Lima.
Overall it was an amazing time. We were able to see Ancash and the Peruvian sierra (highlands) and how life works up there. Plus, it was a much more beautiful landscape than the training center in Chaclacayo and downtown Lima! It was a well needed trip and really got me excited for beginning my service in a few weeks time. We were able to see some real volunteer sites and activities, which were much more concrete than the technical side of training. A great, successful mini-FBT. I can’t wait to find out where everyone is going and to head off on our next field based training followed by our site visits next week! Only 3 short weeks now until I start my life as a sworn-in Peace Corps volunteer. It’s crazy to think about! In 3 short weeks I will have to start everything over again: new family, new town, new relationships, etc. Training has been a blast so far but I think I am ready (maybe not “ready” in the sense that I am fully prepared for this job…there is much to learn…but ready in the sense that I am excited to start stumbling through the job) to get to site and start the next phase of this great adventure!
I hope all is going well for you guys. Please send me an email update when you get a chance, I would love to hear how things are going for you too! Quick side note…my address will be changing when I move to my site, so anything you want to send snail mail will need to be sent to my new address. I will post it up as soon as I find out.
Anywho, thanks for reading and have great day!
Pete
me and lake llanganuco. pretty cool eh?
Ancash is the department or region (similar to a state) directly north of the department of Lima. We spent last Thursday thru Saturday in Ancash around the city of Huaraz. Huaraz is located in the heart of the Andes Mountains and right below what is know as the Cordillera Blanca. The Cordillera Blanca is the stretch of Andes with the most snow capped peaks, hence the name. It is an unbelievably beautiful site. Due to the large amount of peaks and other outdoor activities in the area Huaraz has an outdoor touristic side to it. Many trekkers and climbers come from all over to explore the Andes around Huaraz.
On Thursday morning we arrived in the city of about 55,000 people at 6am after our night bus from Lima. The bus was surprisingly comfortable…as comfortable as an 8 hour bus ride can be. The seats reclined and I was asleep as soon as we left Lima. Once off the bus we split into our groups within MAC and loaded our car for the week. My group of six was awesome and we had our APCD (basically our MAC boss in Peace Corps jargon) as our leader. We all piled into one of the PC 4x4 trucks and headed out of Huaraz to a little town called Pashpa. This was about 30 minutes away from the capital city and a good distance up into the mountains and the Peruvian countryside. I think the pueblo was located at 3600m above sea level….pretty high up there! We spent the day with a current volunteer who has lived in Pashpa for a year now. We had a charla about the tree nursery there and planted a few trees around the health post. We spent the afternoon hiking around to some pre-Incan ruins that were in the area. Pretty incredible to see considering how well maintained they are for being a few thousand years old! That night we had dinner at the volunteer’s house. A true campo (rural) meal of…you guessed it...potatoes and guinea pig. To all the haters out there and members of PETA you would be surprised. The guinea pig (cuy in Spanish) was actually pretty good. It was a bit tough to eat mainly because it was comprised of bone and skin but it tasted great. It truly falls under the cliché of “it tastes like chicken”. One of the kids in my group didn’t want theirs so I was able to have two helpings…how lucky! So if anyone is curious I have a good recipe if you want to head to the nearest PetSmart and buy your next meal!
The second day of the mini-FBT we spent a bit further down the mountain in a pueblo called Collon. Here we gave a few charlas about trash management (we love trash) to some local people. In true Peace Corps fashion the people were not there for the talk and we ended up giving the talk pretty informally to some local men and women we gathered from the pueblo. After the talk it was time to put our words into practice. We built a micro-relleno in the community. This is really just a hole in the ground where people can throw their trash…don’t be too impressed. It was a great hole though, and the people stood around to watch and some helped us to build it. Actually one of the townsmen dug the majority of the hole a LOT faster than we could have. We were there for the moral support though which was good. After lunch we headed to the last stop on the trip, which was a smaller town about an hour away.
The last town we were in was in the footprint of Huascaran, the tallest peak of the Andes at 6700m or about 22,000 ft. It’s an incredible sight. It towers above everything else around it and when the clouds clear you can see the majestic snow capped peak…pretty awe-inspiring. We spent the day up in one part of Huascaran National Park near a glacial lake called Llanganuco. It was hands down the most beautiful area of Peru I have seen to date. Stunning blue-green water surrounded by Huascaran and other nevados (snow capped mountains). After spending some time here we did what all good Peace Corps volunteers would do at this point: go swimming in the cold glacial lake. We left our clothes on the shoreline and jumped in for a few cold seconds. It was an awesome time! After our time in the park we headed back to Huaraz and spent a few hours in the city before our bus left again at 11pm. We celebrated Halloween with a few beers at a local bar and then made the trip back to Lima.
Overall it was an amazing time. We were able to see Ancash and the Peruvian sierra (highlands) and how life works up there. Plus, it was a much more beautiful landscape than the training center in Chaclacayo and downtown Lima! It was a well needed trip and really got me excited for beginning my service in a few weeks time. We were able to see some real volunteer sites and activities, which were much more concrete than the technical side of training. A great, successful mini-FBT. I can’t wait to find out where everyone is going and to head off on our next field based training followed by our site visits next week! Only 3 short weeks now until I start my life as a sworn-in Peace Corps volunteer. It’s crazy to think about! In 3 short weeks I will have to start everything over again: new family, new town, new relationships, etc. Training has been a blast so far but I think I am ready (maybe not “ready” in the sense that I am fully prepared for this job…there is much to learn…but ready in the sense that I am excited to start stumbling through the job) to get to site and start the next phase of this great adventure!
I hope all is going well for you guys. Please send me an email update when you get a chance, I would love to hear how things are going for you too! Quick side note…my address will be changing when I move to my site, so anything you want to send snail mail will need to be sent to my new address. I will post it up as soon as I find out.
Anywho, thanks for reading and have great day!
Pete
me and lake llanganuco. pretty cool eh?
10/18/2009
practice makes perfect
Well, I have made it half way through training! Things are still going great after 5 weeks of the training program and living here in Peru. Starting this past week (week 5) training has taken a more MAC oriented focus. We still have language classes, but they have been rearranged so that all MAC people are in the same classes. This way the language teachers can focus on some environmental as well as language specific topics.
This past week we also had two practice days that were program specific and allowed for some hands on practice with some of the theory we have been learning. This past Thursday was trash day. Yeah, it was as fun as it sounds. We spent the day talking about various trash management projects from previous and current volunteers as well as practicing a mini trash diagnostic (how official, right?) and a puppet show. The trash diagnostic was a great tool to help us gringos look even more hilariously strange in the eyes of our host communities. We all came to the center on Thursday with one day’s worth of garbage from our respective host families. It’s not awkward enough when we try to explain what we are doing here in Peru so our tech trainers figured asking for the day’s garbage would help out! I had a blast. We dumped out all of our trash onto a big tarp and then started digging through and sorting it all. Don’t worry health freaks we were wearing gloves and masks. We split it up into various categories in order to see what kind of trash our communities were producing. This diagnostic is more than just a fun activity. It can help us decide what we need to focus on as far as trash management goes. If the bulk of the trash is organic waste then maybe a compost pile and education is the best method of managing the trash. A useful and somewhat fun/dirty tool we can us in our sites. The afternoon consisted of more charlas and a puppet show about trash management. I was lucky enough to be in the show and played the role of Don Cochinon (Mr. Dirty Man). It was a great show that our tech trainer Monica wrote. The rest of the group seemed to enjoy it so we are planning to perform it and then talk about the lesson involved (the many wonderful uses of garbage and how to reuse it) in the show at the local library this week. A few trainees have been volunteering there after training so it will be a cool way to practice the show for a real “audience” of 7 year old Peruvians.
Friday was another practice day. We drove about an hour outside of Chosica to a little pueblo called Ayas. The town was at roughly 2500 meters and took us quite a while in some rugged 4x4 vehicles to get up there. Once in the town of about 200 people we practiced our community mapping skills we learned in training. This is meant to help us gather important information about a specific community and the way the community members view their community. In Ayas the focus switched from trash to natural resource management. We focused the map on the various natural resources the people of Ayas used. After this we took off on an awesome 3.5 hour hike further up into the hills. We wandered through the various chacras (fields) of the town and saw all sorts of crops including avocado, peach, apple, alfalfa, corn, and much more. We had a guide with us from the town who pointed out to us the native plants and animals along the way as well as their uses (medicinal, edible, etc.). We saw a lot of livestock including cows, sheep, and burros, as well tons of native plants and trees all containing their own distinct uses for the people of the community. Our “transect walk”, as it is called in official MAC language, led us to a waterfall and some pre-Incan rock paintings. We also stumbled upon a rather large tarantula. We all got really excited and started taking pictures. As soon as one of my friends was about to pick it up the guide from the town nonchalantly informed us that this specific spider was indeed poisonous and that picking it up and standing around it was a bad idea. Thanks for the heads up 5 minutes ago! We left our little spider friend and hiked back into town where the had prepared us a lunch of….take a guess…rice, potatoes, and some other tubers. Who would have guessed?!
These two practice days were great. We were able to put some concrete activities in place instead of the theory and classes. This coming week we are going to a national park and a wildlife reserve for “class”. Sounds like a awesome class day to me! The next few weeks of training also include a trip to Ancash for a few days, which should be a lot of fun. We are going to be staying with current volunteers in the area around Huaraz (the capital city) and having some more practice days. It should be an awesome time up in the Andes Mountains.
It’s crazy to think that I have already made it through half of training. The time has really been flying by and before I know it I will be in my site working. I am still having an amazing time and each day I learn something new. Thanks for all the emails and letters, keep letting me know what you guys are up to!
Cheers,
Pete
This past week we also had two practice days that were program specific and allowed for some hands on practice with some of the theory we have been learning. This past Thursday was trash day. Yeah, it was as fun as it sounds. We spent the day talking about various trash management projects from previous and current volunteers as well as practicing a mini trash diagnostic (how official, right?) and a puppet show. The trash diagnostic was a great tool to help us gringos look even more hilariously strange in the eyes of our host communities. We all came to the center on Thursday with one day’s worth of garbage from our respective host families. It’s not awkward enough when we try to explain what we are doing here in Peru so our tech trainers figured asking for the day’s garbage would help out! I had a blast. We dumped out all of our trash onto a big tarp and then started digging through and sorting it all. Don’t worry health freaks we were wearing gloves and masks. We split it up into various categories in order to see what kind of trash our communities were producing. This diagnostic is more than just a fun activity. It can help us decide what we need to focus on as far as trash management goes. If the bulk of the trash is organic waste then maybe a compost pile and education is the best method of managing the trash. A useful and somewhat fun/dirty tool we can us in our sites. The afternoon consisted of more charlas and a puppet show about trash management. I was lucky enough to be in the show and played the role of Don Cochinon (Mr. Dirty Man). It was a great show that our tech trainer Monica wrote. The rest of the group seemed to enjoy it so we are planning to perform it and then talk about the lesson involved (the many wonderful uses of garbage and how to reuse it) in the show at the local library this week. A few trainees have been volunteering there after training so it will be a cool way to practice the show for a real “audience” of 7 year old Peruvians.
Friday was another practice day. We drove about an hour outside of Chosica to a little pueblo called Ayas. The town was at roughly 2500 meters and took us quite a while in some rugged 4x4 vehicles to get up there. Once in the town of about 200 people we practiced our community mapping skills we learned in training. This is meant to help us gather important information about a specific community and the way the community members view their community. In Ayas the focus switched from trash to natural resource management. We focused the map on the various natural resources the people of Ayas used. After this we took off on an awesome 3.5 hour hike further up into the hills. We wandered through the various chacras (fields) of the town and saw all sorts of crops including avocado, peach, apple, alfalfa, corn, and much more. We had a guide with us from the town who pointed out to us the native plants and animals along the way as well as their uses (medicinal, edible, etc.). We saw a lot of livestock including cows, sheep, and burros, as well tons of native plants and trees all containing their own distinct uses for the people of the community. Our “transect walk”, as it is called in official MAC language, led us to a waterfall and some pre-Incan rock paintings. We also stumbled upon a rather large tarantula. We all got really excited and started taking pictures. As soon as one of my friends was about to pick it up the guide from the town nonchalantly informed us that this specific spider was indeed poisonous and that picking it up and standing around it was a bad idea. Thanks for the heads up 5 minutes ago! We left our little spider friend and hiked back into town where the had prepared us a lunch of….take a guess…rice, potatoes, and some other tubers. Who would have guessed?!
These two practice days were great. We were able to put some concrete activities in place instead of the theory and classes. This coming week we are going to a national park and a wildlife reserve for “class”. Sounds like a awesome class day to me! The next few weeks of training also include a trip to Ancash for a few days, which should be a lot of fun. We are going to be staying with current volunteers in the area around Huaraz (the capital city) and having some more practice days. It should be an awesome time up in the Andes Mountains.
It’s crazy to think that I have already made it through half of training. The time has really been flying by and before I know it I will be in my site working. I am still having an amazing time and each day I learn something new. Thanks for all the emails and letters, keep letting me know what you guys are up to!
Cheers,
Pete
10/05/2009
some socializing
And now for a bit more of the social aspects of Peru. What??! You have time for socializing after the training and language classes? The answer is yes we do…not a whole lot, but enough to keep us sane!
I spend my time in various ways. I have become a fan of the telenovela “Al Fondo Hay Sitio”. I wish I had the time to explain it to you guys. It more or less deals with the interactions between a rich family and a poor family. One of the character’s names is Peter and my host mom reminds of this fact every single time he is on the television. SO even if I can’t follow the entire plot I am always reminded when the other Peter is on. After the telenovelas pirated movies are a close second as my favorite form of electronic media. They are all surprisingly good quality and only cost about 2 USD. Awesome stuff. Outside of the day-to-day TV programs I have had the opportunity to do some really cool activities.
A few Sundays ago, my host brother Frank, his girlfriend, and I traveled to a little pueblo called San Jeronimo to go on a hike. When my brother asked me at first if I wanted to go on a hike I assumed he meant a small hike around Yanacoto that would be done by lunchtime. What he actually meant was “hey Pete do you want to go to this pretty cool area about an hour away and spend the next 8 hours hiking?” I’m really glad he meant the latter, although I wish I would have prepared better. We started up a serious hill on the edge of this tiny pueblo and hiked for about 2.5 hours to a waterfall up in the foothills. It was a beautiful hike. The whole time we were wandering through fields and next to burros and other animals. The landscape was amazing. Like La Agraria it was a much needed dose of color and fresh air. The hike was a pretty intense climb at parts. We brought a good deal of fruit and water to aid us on the trek. Again, when I first left my house I figured I wouldn’t need anything and that I would be back in an hour or so. So I left my water, money, sunscreen, etc in Yanacoto and didn’t realize this was going to be an all day affair until halfway up the hill. It was an awesome hike and a great time to hang out with the host family a bit more. Next time I will head to the trail a bit more prepared!
This past weekend was also a big weekend for Yanacoto and especially my family. On Saturday there was a neighborhood festival and Sunday was my host dad’s birthday as well as the anniversary of the school here in town. What this means is there was a lot of beer, food, dancing, and fireworks this weekend. I didn’t make it down to the festival on Saturday night but I could hear it all the way until 6/7 in the morning. My family and I spent the night passing the glass in our house and at midnight singing happy birthday and eating some cake. They actually sing happy birthday here…in English…its kind of funny. The whole while we were lighting off pretty sizable fireworks from our roof. It was mainly for the birthday celebration but at the same time we were competing with the party below. On Sunday we woke up late (around 8:30…I never thought I would appreciate sleeping in so much) and started preparing our lunch of pachamanca. Pachamanca for those that don’t know is one of the best things ever. You essentially throw a ton of meat, potatoes, herbs, and other veggies on top of burning rocks and then cover it all with dirt and slow cook it. Awesome. We had a feast. After this Peruvian treat we headed down to the local school to check out the anniversary fiesta. It was quite the experience. Each grade level had developed their own little dance routine with matching costumes and all. It was hilarious. The ages ranged from 6 or 7 all the way up to 15. It was four full hours of Peruvian culture. A good weekend for exposure to festivities and the local customs.
Aside from the birthday parties, telenovelas, and dance exhibitions I spend the rest of my time just hanging out and talking with my family and the other trainees. The time has been flying by while simultaneously feeling like I have been here for a long time. My energy level is still up which has helped me get through some of the longer training days. This adventure is still just getting started!
I hope all is going well with you guys! If you want to send me an email or snail mail update I would love to hear from you!
Pete
I spend my time in various ways. I have become a fan of the telenovela “Al Fondo Hay Sitio”. I wish I had the time to explain it to you guys. It more or less deals with the interactions between a rich family and a poor family. One of the character’s names is Peter and my host mom reminds of this fact every single time he is on the television. SO even if I can’t follow the entire plot I am always reminded when the other Peter is on. After the telenovelas pirated movies are a close second as my favorite form of electronic media. They are all surprisingly good quality and only cost about 2 USD. Awesome stuff. Outside of the day-to-day TV programs I have had the opportunity to do some really cool activities.
A few Sundays ago, my host brother Frank, his girlfriend, and I traveled to a little pueblo called San Jeronimo to go on a hike. When my brother asked me at first if I wanted to go on a hike I assumed he meant a small hike around Yanacoto that would be done by lunchtime. What he actually meant was “hey Pete do you want to go to this pretty cool area about an hour away and spend the next 8 hours hiking?” I’m really glad he meant the latter, although I wish I would have prepared better. We started up a serious hill on the edge of this tiny pueblo and hiked for about 2.5 hours to a waterfall up in the foothills. It was a beautiful hike. The whole time we were wandering through fields and next to burros and other animals. The landscape was amazing. Like La Agraria it was a much needed dose of color and fresh air. The hike was a pretty intense climb at parts. We brought a good deal of fruit and water to aid us on the trek. Again, when I first left my house I figured I wouldn’t need anything and that I would be back in an hour or so. So I left my water, money, sunscreen, etc in Yanacoto and didn’t realize this was going to be an all day affair until halfway up the hill. It was an awesome hike and a great time to hang out with the host family a bit more. Next time I will head to the trail a bit more prepared!
This past weekend was also a big weekend for Yanacoto and especially my family. On Saturday there was a neighborhood festival and Sunday was my host dad’s birthday as well as the anniversary of the school here in town. What this means is there was a lot of beer, food, dancing, and fireworks this weekend. I didn’t make it down to the festival on Saturday night but I could hear it all the way until 6/7 in the morning. My family and I spent the night passing the glass in our house and at midnight singing happy birthday and eating some cake. They actually sing happy birthday here…in English…its kind of funny. The whole while we were lighting off pretty sizable fireworks from our roof. It was mainly for the birthday celebration but at the same time we were competing with the party below. On Sunday we woke up late (around 8:30…I never thought I would appreciate sleeping in so much) and started preparing our lunch of pachamanca. Pachamanca for those that don’t know is one of the best things ever. You essentially throw a ton of meat, potatoes, herbs, and other veggies on top of burning rocks and then cover it all with dirt and slow cook it. Awesome. We had a feast. After this Peruvian treat we headed down to the local school to check out the anniversary fiesta. It was quite the experience. Each grade level had developed their own little dance routine with matching costumes and all. It was hilarious. The ages ranged from 6 or 7 all the way up to 15. It was four full hours of Peruvian culture. A good weekend for exposure to festivities and the local customs.
Aside from the birthday parties, telenovelas, and dance exhibitions I spend the rest of my time just hanging out and talking with my family and the other trainees. The time has been flying by while simultaneously feeling like I have been here for a long time. My energy level is still up which has helped me get through some of the longer training days. This adventure is still just getting started!
I hope all is going well with you guys! If you want to send me an email or snail mail update I would love to hear from you!
Pete
training!
A lot has happened since my last update. Training is going well. The days are busy…really busy…but this makes for an exciting yet sometimes exhausting atmosphere. We have had some awesome classes and charlas and some other less “interesting” but very necessary talks on the rules and regulations/expectations of Peace Corps Peru.
One of the more exciting charlas (or chats) was given to us by the U.S. ambassador here in Peru. Last Thursday he came to have lunch at the training center and stayed for quite a while to answer questions and give an informal speech. He had a lot of interesting and insightful stories and plenty of advice for living abroad as an American, especially in Peru. It was nice to talk to someone outside of the Peace Corps mindset who has spent the majority of his life and career working abroad. He offered a unique perspective of life in Peru and what we might expect in the next two years. Some of our other visitors have been current volunteers here in Peru. They have been an amazing resource and advice panel. All the training and technicalities that come along with it can be overwhelming and at times I ask myself “why the hell do I have to know this?!”. Talking with and listening to the presentations of the current volunteers of Peru’s 10-13 have helped me and the other trainees really get a sense for what life in our site will be like and the actual things to look out for/prepare for. The training is helping out a lot, but it cant compare to the stories and advice of the people already settled in their sites and actually implementing this training. Some of the things I have learned from the volunteers:
be patient, the first 3 months at site are going to be really hard…fight through it, everyone’s site/experience is unique, have more patience, how to make a diagnostic (a written report of the problems and observations you discover in your site), something of yours will get stolen…deal with it, the most important thing is to talk to people and establish relationships, and finally have more patience. SO patience as you can see is a major theme of the Peace Corps!
Aside from the training at the center in Chaclacayo the MAC (Spanish acronym for the environment group) and Health groups have been spending half of our Saturdays at La Agraria – an agricultural university in Lima. This place is awesome. It has acres of land with all sorts of things from cows and chickens, a nursery, to an organic garden. We have a session in the classroom from 9-11 on varying topics and afterward we work in the gardens, nurseries, and other areas for some hands on practice. The sessions so far have been very informative. One was on methods of reforestation and the other a presentation about the biodiversity of Peru. Both were taught by professors (very intelligent and respected professors) from La Agraria. It has proven to be a very useful and interesting experience despite the fact that it takes place on a Saturday morning. It also acts as a peaceful and green escape from the hustle and bustle of Chaclacayo, the combis, and everything in between.
As you can see training has been going well. The other week our APCD (associate peace corps director) gave us a detailed description of our three main goals as MAC volunteers. So for the next two years my objectives will encompass the following:
Environmental Education
Solid waste management
Reforestation
Within all of these objectives are more specific goals such as planting 1000 trees or making 10 mini landfills. It helps to have a better grasp on what I will actually be doing for the two years I am here. I know that these are just the general guidelines and that my experience may differ, but it is nice to have some sort of goals/objectives in this adventure!
Well, that is training up until now. Things are starting to pick up and we are beginning to do less powerpoints and more hands on application, which I like. Tomorrow we are making our own tree nursery, which should be a bit of fun, and later this week I am taking our recycling from the center to a collection point a little ways down the road. Actually “doing” things is a nice change from the classroom work.
Hope all is going well wherever you may find yourselves!
Pete
One of the more exciting charlas (or chats) was given to us by the U.S. ambassador here in Peru. Last Thursday he came to have lunch at the training center and stayed for quite a while to answer questions and give an informal speech. He had a lot of interesting and insightful stories and plenty of advice for living abroad as an American, especially in Peru. It was nice to talk to someone outside of the Peace Corps mindset who has spent the majority of his life and career working abroad. He offered a unique perspective of life in Peru and what we might expect in the next two years. Some of our other visitors have been current volunteers here in Peru. They have been an amazing resource and advice panel. All the training and technicalities that come along with it can be overwhelming and at times I ask myself “why the hell do I have to know this?!”. Talking with and listening to the presentations of the current volunteers of Peru’s 10-13 have helped me and the other trainees really get a sense for what life in our site will be like and the actual things to look out for/prepare for. The training is helping out a lot, but it cant compare to the stories and advice of the people already settled in their sites and actually implementing this training. Some of the things I have learned from the volunteers:
be patient, the first 3 months at site are going to be really hard…fight through it, everyone’s site/experience is unique, have more patience, how to make a diagnostic (a written report of the problems and observations you discover in your site), something of yours will get stolen…deal with it, the most important thing is to talk to people and establish relationships, and finally have more patience. SO patience as you can see is a major theme of the Peace Corps!
Aside from the training at the center in Chaclacayo the MAC (Spanish acronym for the environment group) and Health groups have been spending half of our Saturdays at La Agraria – an agricultural university in Lima. This place is awesome. It has acres of land with all sorts of things from cows and chickens, a nursery, to an organic garden. We have a session in the classroom from 9-11 on varying topics and afterward we work in the gardens, nurseries, and other areas for some hands on practice. The sessions so far have been very informative. One was on methods of reforestation and the other a presentation about the biodiversity of Peru. Both were taught by professors (very intelligent and respected professors) from La Agraria. It has proven to be a very useful and interesting experience despite the fact that it takes place on a Saturday morning. It also acts as a peaceful and green escape from the hustle and bustle of Chaclacayo, the combis, and everything in between.
As you can see training has been going well. The other week our APCD (associate peace corps director) gave us a detailed description of our three main goals as MAC volunteers. So for the next two years my objectives will encompass the following:
Environmental Education
Solid waste management
Reforestation
Within all of these objectives are more specific goals such as planting 1000 trees or making 10 mini landfills. It helps to have a better grasp on what I will actually be doing for the two years I am here. I know that these are just the general guidelines and that my experience may differ, but it is nice to have some sort of goals/objectives in this adventure!
Well, that is training up until now. Things are starting to pick up and we are beginning to do less powerpoints and more hands on application, which I like. Tomorrow we are making our own tree nursery, which should be a bit of fun, and later this week I am taking our recycling from the center to a collection point a little ways down the road. Actually “doing” things is a nice change from the classroom work.
Hope all is going well wherever you may find yourselves!
Pete
9/23/2009
a day in the life
It has been nearly two weeks since I set off on my adventure. Much has happened since I departed from Detroit on September 10. I arrived in our nation’s capitol for a quick and informative session called staging. During my 20 hours in D.C. I was formally enrolled as a Peace Corps trainee and sat through a few hours of “orientation”. Everyone was full of excitement, anxiety, and a bit of confusion. This made for a great mix of emotions and the 57 new trainees of Peace Corps Peru 14 spent the remainder of the time in D.C. getting to know one another.
The next morning we started our journey to Peru. We finally arrived in Lima’s airport at 10 pm local time after a whole day of travel. We were greeted by a few of the PC Peru staff members and soon found ourselves on an hour long bus ride to a retreat center in Chaclacayo, a small town outside of Lima. We spent the weekend at the retreat center learning about what PC is and the goals we have here in Peru. We also had a round robin of interviews to meet our staff members, attend a “survival Spanish” class, and determine our level of Spanish. Finally, on Sunday, we arrived at the training center in Chaclacayo and met up with our host families. Now the real adventure begins…
I am currently in week 2 of a 10 week long training process to prepare us for our service in Peru. What the heck can they teach you in just 10 weeks you might say? The answer is a whole lot. Every morning from 8 until 12 we have a language and culture class. The group of 57 is split up based on Spanish skill level and each class has about 4-6 students. The small number makes for a busy but productive morning routine. We are learning/refining our Spanish in context with Peruvian culture. It’s a great way to hone our language skills while simultaneously learning about our new country of Peru. The afternoons of training are filled with various meetings and technical training sessions. I am one of 19 trainees in the (get ready for the long title) Community Based Environmental Management Program. Yeah sounds really intricate and profound, eh? As an environmental group within PC our goals include things like environmental education, reforestation, and solid waste management (i.e. recycling, composting, etc.). We are learning strategies on how to be successful volunteers in our fields, what Peruvian governmental agencies we will be working with, and the basics like how to make a compost pile. All really pertinent and exciting stuff in my mind. Other afternoon activities include chats on health and security issues, getting vaccinated for rabies (yay!), tossing the Frisbee, and getting to know the ins and outs of what PC actually is. SO in a nutshell that is my day to day so far as a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee…the government/PC is just full of acronyms).
And now a little about my host family and the hilarity that comes with living in a new country and culture. I really hit the jackpot with my family. Lots of brothers, six of them to be exact, guinea pigs, ducks, a real pig, tile floors, a nice house, a mom/great cook, and a tranquillo atmosphere. I live in a little town about 10 minutes down the road from the training center called Yanacoto. It means black throat in Quechua, so that’s pretty cool. Yanacoto is also conveniently built on a sizable hill, which I get to walk up and down multiple times a day. There are 18 of the 57 PC Peru 14 folks living in Yanacoto so I am not the only gringo to gawk at. It’s been great so far. The people are all extremely friendly and outgoing and my host family is making me feel right at home (aside from the animals and cold showers). My host family is a great group and is really starting to take an interest in my life and my stay in Peru. Today my mom asked me if I would call/come back for Christmas, so I am feeling more and more accepted each day. I have already been gifted a scarf, a Peruvian hat with my name on it (hand knitted by my cousin in like 3 days), and tons of food including ceviche, rice, potatoes, and more rice. It’s been a blast up until now and things are just getting started.
Sorry it has taken me a while to get this post up, things have been busy here! I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my day-to-day life in training. I will try to post some shorter and more specific posts in the future! I have so many more stories and experiences I want to share with you but I have rambled for too long already so I will save them for another time! Thanks for reading; I hope everything is going well for each of you!
Until next time,
Pete
The next morning we started our journey to Peru. We finally arrived in Lima’s airport at 10 pm local time after a whole day of travel. We were greeted by a few of the PC Peru staff members and soon found ourselves on an hour long bus ride to a retreat center in Chaclacayo, a small town outside of Lima. We spent the weekend at the retreat center learning about what PC is and the goals we have here in Peru. We also had a round robin of interviews to meet our staff members, attend a “survival Spanish” class, and determine our level of Spanish. Finally, on Sunday, we arrived at the training center in Chaclacayo and met up with our host families. Now the real adventure begins…
I am currently in week 2 of a 10 week long training process to prepare us for our service in Peru. What the heck can they teach you in just 10 weeks you might say? The answer is a whole lot. Every morning from 8 until 12 we have a language and culture class. The group of 57 is split up based on Spanish skill level and each class has about 4-6 students. The small number makes for a busy but productive morning routine. We are learning/refining our Spanish in context with Peruvian culture. It’s a great way to hone our language skills while simultaneously learning about our new country of Peru. The afternoons of training are filled with various meetings and technical training sessions. I am one of 19 trainees in the (get ready for the long title) Community Based Environmental Management Program. Yeah sounds really intricate and profound, eh? As an environmental group within PC our goals include things like environmental education, reforestation, and solid waste management (i.e. recycling, composting, etc.). We are learning strategies on how to be successful volunteers in our fields, what Peruvian governmental agencies we will be working with, and the basics like how to make a compost pile. All really pertinent and exciting stuff in my mind. Other afternoon activities include chats on health and security issues, getting vaccinated for rabies (yay!), tossing the Frisbee, and getting to know the ins and outs of what PC actually is. SO in a nutshell that is my day to day so far as a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee…the government/PC is just full of acronyms).
And now a little about my host family and the hilarity that comes with living in a new country and culture. I really hit the jackpot with my family. Lots of brothers, six of them to be exact, guinea pigs, ducks, a real pig, tile floors, a nice house, a mom/great cook, and a tranquillo atmosphere. I live in a little town about 10 minutes down the road from the training center called Yanacoto. It means black throat in Quechua, so that’s pretty cool. Yanacoto is also conveniently built on a sizable hill, which I get to walk up and down multiple times a day. There are 18 of the 57 PC Peru 14 folks living in Yanacoto so I am not the only gringo to gawk at. It’s been great so far. The people are all extremely friendly and outgoing and my host family is making me feel right at home (aside from the animals and cold showers). My host family is a great group and is really starting to take an interest in my life and my stay in Peru. Today my mom asked me if I would call/come back for Christmas, so I am feeling more and more accepted each day. I have already been gifted a scarf, a Peruvian hat with my name on it (hand knitted by my cousin in like 3 days), and tons of food including ceviche, rice, potatoes, and more rice. It’s been a blast up until now and things are just getting started.
Sorry it has taken me a while to get this post up, things have been busy here! I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my day-to-day life in training. I will try to post some shorter and more specific posts in the future! I have so many more stories and experiences I want to share with you but I have rambled for too long already so I will save them for another time! Thanks for reading; I hope everything is going well for each of you!
Until next time,
Pete
9/08/2009
let it begin!
Only two days left until I begin the adventure. Time sure has flown by even though the entire application process has been on going since last October. Before I know it I will be landing in Lima and starting out on a fantastic journey.
Despite the fact that I leave in 2 days I still have plenty of things to finish up. Ah procrastination was always my downfall. I am still running errands and packing as of today--both of which I am confident will continue until I am on board the airplane!
As of now I feel ready to get started. I have spent too much time thinking and talking about what it will be like and what to expect. Now it's time for me to start doing and acting on all the previous talk. I can't wait to get settled in and meet my fellow trainees, the PC staff, and especially my new host family. Once I find a good groove I am confident the fun will begin!
I just wanted to get a post up here before the chaos of training and moving to a new environment begins. My plan is to update this every few weeks over the next 2 years. SO if you are bored with your job/school/life in general don't worry, you can always look forward to my ramblings on this blog to entertain!
That's all for now, see you guys in Peru!
Despite the fact that I leave in 2 days I still have plenty of things to finish up. Ah procrastination was always my downfall. I am still running errands and packing as of today--both of which I am confident will continue until I am on board the airplane!
As of now I feel ready to get started. I have spent too much time thinking and talking about what it will be like and what to expect. Now it's time for me to start doing and acting on all the previous talk. I can't wait to get settled in and meet my fellow trainees, the PC staff, and especially my new host family. Once I find a good groove I am confident the fun will begin!
I just wanted to get a post up here before the chaos of training and moving to a new environment begins. My plan is to update this every few weeks over the next 2 years. SO if you are bored with your job/school/life in general don't worry, you can always look forward to my ramblings on this blog to entertain!
That's all for now, see you guys in Peru!
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