Second Updates

Hello All,

My apologies for not keeping this blog thing updated. Training has been a whirlwind of activity and word on the street is that once we are in our individual sites there is more time for things like this. Our tasks in site (especially the first few months) are not going to be as time consuming as training has been. Training is typically 8-5 and for those special few who came in with as little Spanish knowledge as I have been granted the opportunity for an extra hour of ‘tutoria’ from 5-6. Of course it would be foolish not to take advantage of it but it does make for a full day with homework at the end. So the blog has definitely been put on the back burner but I have come to the obvious conclusion that I can write them on my laptop and then bring them on USB to the internet cafes (locutorios) instead of trying to get everything done in the hour of computer time available there.

Training itself has been going really well. I have met some really awesome people in our training class and have enjoyed my time with my host family. At this point they are really the only Peruvians I have been able to get to know, my Spanish is coming along but it is a slow process and they are some of the only ones that have the patience and understanding it takes to have a conversation with me. I am at the point where I can pick up on most things but I often miss key parts of the question or conversation. However it is an immense improvement on week 1 and I think I am on pace to meet my language requirement for swearing in (August 19^th!). 

There have been so many things in training that I can only briefly explain, such as learning the dance where you essentially chase the girl around with a candle and try to light the piece of paper hanging out like a tail, the guinea pig game where the guinea pig is put in the middle and people bet on which box he will run into, and the celebration where you dance around with a machete and chop down a tree filled with presents (all of this happened in one day and as you might have guessed it was one of the best days of my life). Nothing quite compares to playing with fire and sharp objects in a celebration type fashion. We have also been able to see demonstrations of several different types of dances in Peru and other cultural traditions and once I learn how to spell Spanish words better I will attempt to explain them.

Overall the definite highlight of training so far was Field-Based Training. This was an entire week where our class split into smaller groups and went to different parts of the country for some actual hands on work. My group went to La Libertad, a department towards the north of Peru and home to one of the largest cities in the country, Trujillo. Here we went with to different volunteer sites and participated in activities in the schools and communities as well as did a little exploring on the side. The first day we saw a special education school and did a beach clean up then a few of us, myself included, got to help with the kids surfing lessons by pulling them out in the ocean so they could catch the waves. For most of the rest of the week we were dropped into schools with a theme and got to teach classes. For the most part they went okay but I did come to realize many of my current limitations with the language. Just as an example we all had to teach one class all on our own and mine was on the environment. Something that would maybe be a little difficult to teach in English became much more of a challenge in Spanish. The activities we did went pretty well but the discussion part pretty much ruined me. The kids understand that I couldn’t speak Spanish very well and so they started helping me but later turned against me when they found out it was funny to tell me the wrong words. My famous quote from the day “no tirar basura en el rio, tirar su basura en el techo!” The word I was really looking for was tacho which means trash can, what I actually said translates to don’t throw your trash in the river, throw your trash on the roof. After that things got a little silly but overall it was a positive experience.

The other major occurrence, the one that we have all been waiting for since day 1, this past Wednesday we received our ‘site assignments.’ This was the day where we found out where we are to be living the next two years, a brief description of the area and the new host family and some other general information. I will be moving up north to the department of Cajamarca. I am still in the process of learning about the area and will provide more information later, all I really know now is that it is the leader of dairy production in Peru and Cajamarca city is home to the largest Carnaval celebration in the country. This week we are making site visits where I will get to meet my new host family, community partners, and my site-mate (something a lot of people don’t have). My site-mate is a business volunteer so I am looking forward to meeting her and seeing how we can assist each other’s work in the community.

I also now have a Peruvian cell phone that you may call if you are so inclined (and want to pay for it!). I am not going to post the number for privacy reasons but if you are interested send me an email or facebook message and I will be sure to get it to you. Thanks for reading, look for the next blog after swearing in (August 19) and I will plan to go into detail about the outline for our first three months as actual Peace Corps Volunteers.