May 8, 2004
I made it to Cajamarca – 14 hours on a bus last night! The bus was nice granted, like a charter bus in US, but what a night. There is no good way to sleep, especially on bumping rodes. Cajamarca is beautiful, unlike anything I have ever seen. Rolling green mountains, quaint villages, huge farms, and friendly people. We are staying in a hostel right in down town. It is great. Believe it or not – I have hot water! My first hot shower in 8 weeks, what a treat. The rooms are neat and clean and there’s a tv. I feel like I am on vacation. We have the rest of today free to explore the city. Tomorrow I meet up with a volunteer named Amanda to learn first hand about PC service. Cajamarca is a big city with colonial buildings in the town center. There is a huge market a couple of blocks south of the plaza, where everything is sold – guinea pigs, fruits, vegetables, clothing, you name it.
May 7, 2004
What a whirl wind of a day. We found out of site placements, finally! I can’t believe I have made it this far in my PC experience. We leave this afternoon for Field Based Training for 10 days – where you stay with a current volunteer for 3 days to learn the ropes, then visit your site for 3 days to see your home of 2 years. Since there are no volunteers currently in Trujillo, I am heading to Cajamarca first, then will go to Trujillo at the end of the week.
A little about my site, from the written info I received: Intense poverty, final shanty town of the city before entering the desert, most famous for the city dump where many residents make a living recycling trash and looking for anything of use, there is electricity and water, latrines (outhouses), beach of Huanchaco is 15 minutes away, climate is warm and dry (often above 80), houses are made mostly of adobe and bricks, of any PC/Peru site offers the toughest daily reality, structured work (Monday-Friday) environment with YMCA, and Internet is a 5-minute walk away.
May 5, 2004
My family took me to thier uncle’s farm today, he raises exotic fish and has bananas, alvocados, limes, and apples. I was able to pick bananas right from the tree and eat them. He also took me to his ancestrial adobe home that is in his back yard. He said his great grandparents built it. Also got to see the guinea pigs and chickens he’s raising to eat.
May 4, 2004
Not too much happened today that is interesting. Just classes, then this afternoon two counterparts (agencies we will be working with in our sites) came to give presentations to our training group. A site in Cajamarca is in a group home/orphanage. The volunteer will have their own personal apartment, equipped with kitchen and hot water. You can’t beat that for living arrangements. However, the work seems arduous. The volunteer will live and work in this facility with 25 kids and one other adult. That’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of work. The other presentation was about Ancash, way up in the Andes Mountains. This site is a lot less structured. The volunteer will be living in a Quechua-speaking community and focusing on bi-lingual (Quechua/Spanish) education. I return to the Buenos Aires school on Thursday, so I am busy preparing a lesson. Supposedly, we are returning to help with tutoring, but the teachers have requested that we do another self-esteem activity.
May 3, 2004
Something that I have realized is -- you can really get used to any surrounding. The things I thought were just crazy and that I would never get used to, are a part of my everyday routine now. It’s almost like they’ve always been that way. You really don’t need a toilet seat, nor do you really need hot water to bathe in, and you can make due without a car. They say that reverse culture shock when you go home is even worse than the initial culture shock of the foreign country. I am beginning to see why. I can’t believe I have been here 2 months.
Classes today were great – my language improved! I’m up one more level. We’ve changed professors. We leave on Friday to visit our sites and to stay with another volunteer. We had a session on things you can do to improve the housing in your future site, so take notes on your first visit. PC gives you $200 as a settling in allowance, for things like a bed, stove, dresser, paint, or whatever you think you might need. All sites have some sort of shelter, latrine, and water source; but it is up to you to add what is not already there. The families can consider this part of the rent. If after a couple of months, your family is not working out, you can move homes. So, there is freedom in where you live, but you have to remember part of the PC mission is to live like the locals.
May 2, 2004
I went to a trainee´s soccer game today. She’s playing with the Santa Eulalia women’s team. It was fun to sit in the stands and hear the Peruvians root for the Gringa! I heard from a neighbor they want her to play for a team in Lima. Later in the afternoon, went with my family to the men’s soccer game, and had some great grilled chicken. They were having a chicken dinner for a fundraiser for the teams. Really, really sick tonight… You don’t want the details. Probably was the chicken.
May 1, 2004
This was my first experience staying in a hostel, but I have to admit, it wasn’t that bad. We still didn’t have hot water but my bed was reasonable clean. We toured the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima, where I bought a great purse and had lunch. Service in a restaurant is definitely different here. One person does all the ordering and you better order everything at first or good luck getting it later. In the afternoon, we visited the PCMO´s place in Lima for homemade Mexican food. She pulled out her old PC scrapbook and told us her stories of her service in Paraguay. It has been a great weekend of speaking English and eating “normal” food. Back to Santa Eulalia.
April 30, 2004
We went to Huacan again today to do a health fair. We had a great time working with the kids. Supposedly this area of Lima, is a lot like my site in Trujillo, so I was taking notes. The area was congested with lots of people, shops, and houses. The streets were mostly dirt and lots of graffiti on the walls. On our way back to the training center, we saw a group marching to Lima. This group of 6000+ farmers had marched from the jungle in northern Peru. They were headed to the capital to protest new laws restricting cocoa plant production. Ventured back to Lima to eat dinner and watch a movie at the APCD´s house. What a great setup, working for the American Embassy. They have strict limitations on where employees can live, so that means you get a great pad. We played badminton in the back yard, snacked on chips & salsa, ate salad and Pizza Hut Pizza. Afterwards, we checked in at a hostel and headed to Barronco and Miraflores, nice sections of Lima, for some night scenes.
April 29, 2004
I had my second language interview today. It went pretty good. My Spanish has to of improved, right? I have been living here for 7 weeks now. I ventured to Chosica this afternoon for internet and some ice cream.
