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
10/18/2009
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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