Week 1 of Training

Hello all!

I’ve been in training for about a week now. I live in a little town named Chacrasana, about 15 minutes away from Chaclacayo, where the training center is located. Chaclacayo is about 45 minutes from Lima. Each day I wake up and either jog or climb the hill behind my house, eat some yummy breakfast (lately it’s been eggs and fried hot dogs, take a combi (bus) to the training center, sit through what seems like a gazillion hours of classes, combi my butt back home, eat again, and fall into bed. I live with an incredible Peruvian family. Marino, my host father is an exceptional man with a big heart for those in need. He truly values Peace Corps volunteers and the work that we do here. He has a project of his own this he is working on. He plans to build a huge cancha (soccer field) and little cabins for people to rent. The profit will go directly to impoverished families in the Andean Sierra. His motto in life is “what little I have, I share it.” He’s a chatty, friendly man and an excellent father to his 3 children. Singui is 14, Elena is 8, and Andre is 6. They are sweet little rascals that love to follow me around, hold my hand, and play with my gringo electronics. My fellow trainees joke about my little leeches. Interestingly enough, much like my real sisters in the States, my host sisters and mother LOVE Justin Bieber. My host mother is sweet and very attentive. She and I talk a lot about the education system and many other social norms and issues in Peru. Luckily, I am blessed to have both internet (WHAT!!!) and hot water (AWESOME!!!) in my house. Also, because my family has hosted many other volunteers, I get to eat lots of vegetables. Peruvians don’t eat many vegetables and many trainees are having a hard time adjusting. I’m really lucky to be getting lots of GREEN! Not to mention, my host father loves it when all the volunteers come over and hang out and drink around the fire pit in the back yard. My fellow trainees are already chomping at the bit to “party at Libby’s house. “

Entrenamiento, or training, has been quite interesting, not to mention exhausting. We have language class from 8-12 and technical training from 1-5. Obviously, it is a very long day. By Friday night we all just want to have a beer (or in my case, a glass of Peruvian wine) and go to bed. The Spanish classes are helpful. I really needed the review and there are lots of jergas (slang) that I need to learn that are unique to Peru. For example, the term for bus here is “combi.” In Chile it was “micro” and in Guatemala it was “camion.” I am continually learning new words for things I thought I was familiar with. Anyway, the technical training is what I most look forward to. In the coming weeks, we will learn all about our potential sites, programs that we can implement in our sites, safety and security in Peru, nutrition, and a plethora of other topics. I am most excited about visiting real Peace Corps sites to see how REAL volunteers live.

Site placement has been on everyone’s mind. Because of Peru’s vast size, there are many geographic regions that we could be placed in: desert in the south, coast to the west, Sierra to the east, and cloud forest to the north. Over the next few weeks, we will have the opportunity to talk with our APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director) to explain our preferences. Most sites are rural and we will most likely by placed within an hour to three hours of the nearest volunteer. It is interesting what only one week has done to my personal flexibility. Initially, I was apprehensive about living somewhere rural or in a very small town, not having Internet, or living somewhere without the amenities of home. However, Peace Corps is about self- sacrifice and you have to be willing to go where you will be the most effective. I realize now I can live without a toilet or Internet. I would actually prefer to live in a very small town because people tend to be much more receptive and I feel that I will be more effective with the youth there. I think my most inflexible request is that I REALLY want to be somewhere warm. It is pretty chilly here in Chacrasana and I don’t like having to bundle up all the time.

Everyone back home wants to know about the food here in Peru. Well, the food is absolutely not what I expected, but extremely delicious. There is a large Chinese influence here, so it common to eat Chifa, a mix of Chinese and Peruvian food. Unfortunately, tortillas are uncommon here, which is truly a travesty because I love love love me some comida Mexicana. Anyway, the food of choice here in Peru is rice… rice and potatoes. Fortunately, they have created about 400 ways to prepare the 400 different types of potatoes. We eat a lot of chicken and plenty of fresh fruit. The fruit and vegetables here are incredible. Nothing is imported from abroad and so all the produce is picked ripe and delicious. It’s like American produce on speed... Freakin’ Awesome.

Finally, I’ll contarles (tell you all) a fun little Peruvian fiesta story. Yesterday was the day of the heart of Jesus. Everyone attended mass and brought their pictures of Jesus for the priest to bless. Inside the church were beautiful religious icons bedecked with flowers and sparkling LED lights. The icons became part of a parade, which also included a live band and members of the community. The parade started in front of the home of a certain family, who provided food for the community. The parade ended in front of the school, where the band continued to play. At this point, the whole town showed up and started drinking (around 9 pm). The crowd got rowdier as the night went on, really taking off at about 1 am, at which time the toro loco (crazy bull) went off. A man placed a huge paper bull made up of fireworks on his back, lit the thing on fire, and proceeded to run around the middle of the party. It was quite possibly the most unsafe and crazy thing I’ve ever seen. It was awesome. All the trainees from neighboring communities came out to Chacrasana for our party. We were all pretty amazed by the spectacle. Not to mention, we were all a little embarrassed that we were tired by 1 am and wanted to go to bed, while the rest of the town, including the 75 year old ladies stayed out until 5 am. Peru is a crazy place. I’m really getting to like it here.