Christmas in Peru

Well, I’ll remember a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day like no other I’ve ever had! Christmas season started about a week ago when all the children in the area were given toys by the municipality, plastic cars, Barbie type dolls and other plastic toys. Then the major oil company that wants to drill offshore did a toy give away. And throughout the week, there were chocolatatas. At a chocolatata, sometimes small gifts are exchanged but always there’s hot chocolate and panetone.
Christmas Eve day, two of the men in my family were painting the outside of the house with music at high volume. Their choice of music was a station that played old rock songs and since it was impossible to do anything with the music volume so high, I sat outside watching and translating lyrics into Spanish as best I could. You can picture me under a big tree scrambling to keep up with “Hey Jude” and other Beetles songs! My host mother is Jehovah’s Witness so holiday celebrations are not part of her belief system but she does some of the tradition for the family. She sent a family member to get rotisserie chicken for dinner around 10:30 at night which we ate with hot chocolate and panetone. After dinner she and I went walking to find a tienda with red soda to mix with sangria at midnight. This was really an opportunity to see the town late night on Christmas Eve. The streets were packed with kids setting off firecrackers, games set up in the town center and many groups of teens drinking beer. We shared toasts of sangria at midnight and went to bed but the night was punctuated by the incredibly loud sound system of the family across the street drinking hard until after 7AM. Breakfast was more panetone and then I took off to spend Christmas Day with my other Peru family, Peace Corps volunteers. I was breathing a sigh of relief especially since Christmas dinner was going to be pork and I’m determined not to eat pork while in Peru no matter how many assurances I get that this piggie was raised clean and free of cystocytosis.
Sarah, Robyn and I went to Zorritos, about 15 minutes south, checked into a hostel and ate a divine lunch of cerbiche and chicharones (fried mixed seafood). We called Frieda in the province of Ica and sang “Silent Night” on the speaker phone! Then we were joined by another Tumbes volunteer, Michelle who stayed the night as well. We swam in the ocean, called our friends around Peru (we have free calling to anyone in Peace Corps Peru) and compared notes on our experience here. We stayed in a room with a shower, flush toilet and soft, clean bed with the only sound in the night, the surf. I was in heaven my first night from my site for a night in a month. We all had some weepy moments along the way missing our families and our traditions but the ocean and companionship wiped away the blues.

The Grandmother with Itchy Feet

Once upon a time, there was a grandmother who had very itchy feet. She had a lovely home in Wisconsin with good friends and a garden. She had children she loved and the most wonderful grandchildren in the world. But sometimes, her feet got itchy and the only way she could stop them from itching was to travel.
Now this grandmother knew that when she traveled, she wouldn’t see her children and grandchildren for a long, long time. She knew she would be lonely for those little grandchildren so she tried and tried to stay home. But her feet wouldn’t stop itching unless she got on an airplane and went to someplace far, far away. So one day when the leaves were turning gold and the nights were growing cool, she got on an airplane and went to live in Peru which was indeed a long, long way away.
When she got to Peru, she lived in a big Peruvian family with lots of children. Now these children weren’t the same as her grandchildren, but they welcomed her into their home and gave lots of hugs. The children in Peru almost always live in a big family with aunts, uncles and cousins all around. They live in houses close to each other with the doors open all day so they can run in and out visiting.
In the grandmother’s house lived a little girl named Zulay with her brother Germain. Zulay was a beautiful, sweet 8 year old girl with very thick black hair. She loved the beach so every day, Zulay asked the grandmother with itchy feet to go to the beach to play in the sand and water. And in the houses nearby lived Vanya, Brandon and Sophia, little cousins who like to play. The children in Peru don’t have more than one or two toys so they make up games to play with each other with sticks and rocks. They run, chase and play ball for hours every evening. And always they plan soccer or volleyball.
At Christmas time, the grandmother with itchy feet really felt lonely for her grandchildren but she couldn’t come home because she had traveled so very far away. She wanted to snuggle and read stories so instead she wrote stories about her adventure. She wrote about the warm water of the ocean where she went swimming with her friends. She wrote about watching the fishing boats slowly move along the shore every day. She told her grandchildren about watching the fishermen bring in the fish. One day she saw them bring in a very shiny fish called a mirror fish. Grandmother looked very close and yes, she could see her face reflected on the side of the fish.
Grandmother wrote about the birds that fly all around the fishing boats. They are called scissor birds because they have tails that open and close like a pair of scissors. The scissor birds are watch for fish close to the top of the waves and near the boats. They know how to catch fish quickly and gobble them down as they fly. Sometimes they steal fish from other birds like the big brown pelicans who fill their big bills with fish.
The grandmother with itchy feet knew that one day her feet would stop itching and she would come home. Then she would be able to play with her grandchildren again. And if her feet became itchy after that, she would think of places the grandchildren could go with her so they could have adventures together!






1

Late afternoon in Tumbes

It’s late afternoon here and a cool breeze from the ocean finally cools off this tropical heat. Midday, I can barely move and drip with sweat as the fierce sun heats up this part of the world. The usual gossip is under the big tree in the yard, my host father is planted in front of the TV and the rest of the family are at their daily game of volleyball, played with intensity and for money.
I really have no idea how to work here but keep stirring the pot to see what happens. I’ve been asked to go to meetings that don’t happen and had unplanned meetings that were really productive. Yesterday I got so tired of kids staring at me that I yelled at them. I was on the front porch, devouring Utne Reader that Helen sent (arrived in 1 week!) and looked up to see a gaggle of little girls staring at me. Now this happens all the time but today I lost it and told them to quit. This caused them to hide around the porch and make weird kid noises until they got bored and left. I realize that we gringos stand out like a beacon light and that of course the kids are curious but yesterday, my patience lapsed and I didn’t want to hide in my room.
My host family has swelled to 11 people with the arrival of the proverbial prodigal son and his pregnant girlfriend so the house is always full of noise and activity. After several days of no water, the water turned on and I had the pleasure of a sponge bath. I’ve learned that it’s always this way at this time of the year when the major portion of available water is diverted to flood the rice fields as they are planted. This will lead to more mosquitoes and an increase in dengue fever.
And just when I was whining to other volunteers on my cell phone (calls are free to other volunteers through a network), I returned home to an incredible lunch made by my host sister. She made a chupe de mariscos (delicious soup with shrimp and poached egg) and a kind of spicy creamed shrimp on rice. All this served with fresh pineapple juice. How much whining could anyone do after this? So I did the only sensible thing and took a nap.
I taught my first yoga class today experimenting with the midwife that I work with at the clinic. Not that I’m a yoga teacher, I just did what Iris has taught me (without being able to say much in Spanish!). But it’s a start and I’ve committed to teach a weekly class in yoga and nutrition for pregnant women in January. Not that I ever know what I’m doing but stumbling along one day at a time.

Disappointment

Well, today we learned that 2 of the volunteers from my group who were assigned to Tumbes are being pulled and sent to another as yet unknown area for their service. They were placed in towns on the Ecuadoran border and it quickly became apparent that this was quite unsafe for any Peace Corps volunteers but especially young women. The So the Peace Corps send their security officer who recommended they be moved. As much as it is a relief to know they will not be in such an unsafe location, the 3 of us in my group who are left in Tumbes are sad to see them go and feel our support system shrinking.

So we went to lunch together, went to the beach, swam in the waves (I'm learning to dive under them as they break) and said a sad goodbye to Georgi and Freida.

Rats.

Sarita

Hinchada

Hinchada is the word for swollen, swollen anything but for me it's my feet and legs which are always a little swollen here in the heat. And do I get questions, advice and comments about this! As I was waiting for yet another meeting that didn't happen at the clinic the other day, an older woman sat next to me with questions about why my legs were swollen, questions about my health, blood pressure, etc. This has become pretty routine in my day.

And then there's the advice... I've been told many times to soak my feet in a bucket of salt water (to which I reply that I do this by walking on the shore in the water of the ocean), to put hot sand on my legs, put my legs up (which I do most days in a hammock after lunch). But today topped them all. My friend Sarah came for the afternoon from her neighboring town and we spent the afternoon walking on the beach, playing in the waves and talking. Afterward, I walked her to the highway to catch a car to her town. On my way back to my house, a woman in a tienda called out to me asking who I was, where I was from, what I was doing, etc.etc. Then she noticed my hinchada and was off on a roll. Before I could get away, I was sitting in her kitchen with my legs in a basin being bathed with canyasa (I don't have any idea how it's really spelled). But canyasa is Peruvian moonshine. One swallow and I'd probably fall over. But for a leg bath, not bad. I walked home with cool legs and realized I smelled like a town drunk.

There is no day without a surprise.

Sarita

Never knowing what to expect!

I never know what to expect in any area of my life here except perhaps for the unexpected! The arrangement with my host family is that I eat meals with them so I eat what’s put before me. And fortunately most of the time I like the food here especially since there are fishermen in the family. One day this week, my host brother brought me fresh cerviche with something he called pupa and described as a large squid with tentacles full of teeth that can pulverize your arm. Today, there is no water except for a bucket from a neighbor’s house. You never know when the water tap on the front porch will start to trickle and the family mobilizes to full the water tanks before it turns off.
The same is true of working here. Today I went to the clinic to work with the obstetriz (equivalent to a nurse midwife in the US). She asked me to do nutritional counseling with prenatal patients which I did for about an hour when no more patients were coming to the door of the room I was using. I went out to find the obstetra had left for the capitol city in the ambulance with a patient. I had a meeting scheduled with someone else in ½ hour so I stayed around but the meeting never happened. I’m never sure whether I misunderstood or plans changed.
Then this afternoon I went back just as the health post doctor was doing routine checks on the older adults. He asked me to do nutrition counseling with them so impromptu, I met with about 20 older adults and inquired about their nutrition, encouraged them to increase fruits, vegetables, milk and decrease salt and sugar. This was a great learning opportunity for me as I bumbled through with my weak Spanish bolstered by their graciousness. As is often the case, they were teaching me about life here which is indeed quite difficult. Most of the people I talked to didn’t have money for canned milk, fruit or yogurt. And the idea of vegetables includes yucca, potatoes, sweet potatoes and more potatoes with occasional carrots, beets or peas. And of course there was the 84 year old man who talked so fast I understood only a few words but did understand that he wanted to dance with me and would like to have a woman to hold. All I could do was laugh and make a quick decision that any kind of talk about nutrition with this guy was really out of the question!
Sometimes I just don’t have any frame of reference for the lack of resources. The health post doesn’t have any more water than the rest of the town which means there are no hand washing facilities in exam rooms or staff bathrooms. The dentist has a water barrel and pitcher for hand washing. People do the best they can with what they have so I look for the strengths. The staff is caring and proud of their work which includes a lot of education around prevention. Several days a week, I’ll be working house to house with a health promoter. The health promoters here are often nurses who live in the community and know every family. The privacy mandated by HIPPA is a long, long way from Peru! Every house has a metal plate with the number (not the address but the house number). The health post has records of who needs vaccines, who keeps water tanks covered to prevent breeding of the mosquitoes carrying dengue, etc. I was encouraged to take photos of families after I interview them and jumped through my hesitation to find that most people wanted their picture taken. Next week, I start doing formal interviews and keeping data with the goal of interviewing 100 families by the end of February. Most of my questions involve nutrition, water sources and whether the house has a latrine, toilet, or the family uses the open fields.
So I start most days with some kind of plan and a LOT of flexibility for the unexpected!

Learning day by day

I constantly feel like I'm learning something new here and a lot of what I learn is about my assumptions. When the outside water tap turned on yesterday, I hurried with my host mom to fill containers. Then I asked why we didn't fill 3 barrels at a time, if there was enough water to do so. And learned that yes there is but the family can't afford a 3rd barrel, she has wanted a small covered barrel in the kitchen for water for a long time. But money is scarce. And before you think I should go out and buy another barrel, I'm learning to be cautious about my relationship with people and money.

Today I stumbled through the process of going house to house with a health promoter learning how to ask questions. Often I asked a question and was met with a blank look only to have the health promoter ask the same question in the same words and be understood. Then I realized I needed paper clips and went to a tienda but didn't know what the damn things are called here. After a pantomime, a man in the tienda said, "Cliks, ella necesita cliks" and I have paper clips.

I'm getting started with projects here, including the house to house questions and work with another NGO on a garbage project. There is garbage everywhere without barrels, without systems of clean up. In the town is a dry river bed where people throw their trash. It all goes out to the ocean in the rainy season. And in the river bed are enormous pigs rooting and running with their baby pigs. I'll throw my shoulder to the wheel of this garbage and recycling project in a heartbeat.

And after a hot, hot day, a fine breeze of the ocean. My host brother who is a fisherman made me cerviche with something in it from a giant squid like creature that weighs about 70 kilograms and can pulverize your arm like a blender. That's as much as I understood but the cerviche was delicious.

Good grief, I have no clue what I'm doing, I just stumble day to day learning as fast as I can.

Cheers
Sarita

Living by the beach

Well, I’ve got to say that this site is an incredible and I feel quite lucky in many ways. After a week, I’m beginning to adjust to my new home, the huge extended family and the scarcity of water. For every inconvenience, there are 10 things that are great. One of these is the beach, a long stretch of beach with fine sand, fishing boats offshore and lots birds. I hear the ocean all the time from the kitchen and bathroom of the house which have open barred windows. When I wake in the night, I hear the ocean.
Lest you think this is paradise, this is also a dirty beach where the single guys hand out to drink in the evening so after about 6PM, it’s off limits for this gringa. Saturday, I went to the beach with a youth group for a clean-up project and learned in the process that there are no garbage barrels, there isn’t much idea of the beach as a resource and the dry river bed leading to the ocean is where lots of people dump their garbage.
That said, the Pacific Ocean is magnificent and once beach area central to La Cruz was cleaned up by these kids, the boys headed out to swim and everyone joined in a game of beach soccer. I watched the guys as they dove under the incoming waves and decided to try it the next day. So today, Robyn came from her site which is about 20 minutes away and we spend the morning at the beach with about 6 of the children from my extended family. It’s going to take me a while to learn to swim in this water but I really had a blast. And I almost lost my water shorts in the process. Lesson learned, tie the waist tight and don’t let the little kids grab you by the shorts!
After a few hours, we returned to the house for lunch of chicken, rice and a potato salad with a pimento sauce and fresh papaya juice prepared by my host mom. Then Robyn headed home and I fell asleep in the hammock with kids playing, TV on and conversations all around me!
Tomorrow, I will be meeting a woman from an NGO called Cuidades Saludables that has interest in starting a garbage collection and recycling project in La Cruz. I’m looking forward to meeting with this group and will give all the support I can if they decide to bring a project to La Cruz.
I’ve been very fortunate to meet good people in my first week including the young man who is the youth group leader, completely on his own without resources. My job at the beach cleaning was to take photos and like teenagers everywhere, they preened and posed like crazy. Now their leader has the photos on his flashdrive. I have to laugh when I see pictures of me in the middle of this group, talk about being different! The kids were fascinated that I’m always white (blancita) and really thought it funny when I told them that in the sun I change from white to red. However, that’s not going to happen because I am very faithful with sun screen.

Little things mean a lot

Well, day by day I'm learning how to live here. Yesterday I was flat out with dysentery and a cold but was visited by the sweet health center doctor who gave me pills. I have no idea what they were but they helped and today I started antibiotics.

I also made my first solo trip to the capitol city 15 minutes away which felt like a good learning and independence. Going into the capitol entails standing by the side of the road until one of the many old almost wrecked cars with cracked windshield and dragging muffler stops. These are actually a public transport system and registered with someone official somewhere. So for about 70 cents in US money, I get a ride to the capitol.

After my illness, my host family now understands that the gringa has to have boiled water and I have my own pitcher in the kitchen. I also set up a handwashing station in the kitchen with a tub of water that has a spigot.

In the capitol, I bought an electricity stabilizer which keeps from frying my computer as the current surges and wanes regularly here. And thank you Todd for all the great computer help before I left the states. Everything works well and Skype is awesome.

Then at the end of the day, I walked on the beach with my host mom, sat and talked about many things. I told her about my mother's ashes being scattered in the same ocean and she told me she had loved futball (soccer) so much that when she dies she wants her ashes scattered in the stadium.

Bit by bit I'm learning how to live here. I had soft boiled eggs for dinner with the divine cracked pepper that Norma sent.

And any inconvenience is overridden by the warm hospitality of the people here. They have such high hopes for what I'll do for their community, I hope to meet a small portion of their expectations.

Cheers
Sarita

Water

I'm asked dozens of questions every day, most of them over and over again. Where am I from? Why am I here? How much did my camera cost? Where is my husband? What is my religion? How old am I? What are my health problems? Where are my children? Do I believe in God and Jesus? How much money did I make in the US? So I answer most of the questions except those about money which is too sensitive.

I often have been asked what I miss most which is my family and friends. Then I'm asked what food I miss and that is cheese since it's rare and almost nonexistant here in Tumbes where refrigeration is also rare.

However, I know have an answer to the question what do I miss most (except my loved ones). I MISS WATER!!!! Water is so scarce. My family gets 2 barrels a week for 7 people and last week there wasn't any water available. I bathed today with about 1 quart of water. I have almost a panicked sense of scarcity about water.

My host mom asked about water in the US and was totally blown away by learning that we can turn on a tap and have drinkable water. Here the water that does come from any source, tap, barrel or truck is not drinkable although many people do drink it and live with chronic diarrhea. Even the staff at the clinic are surprised to learn that we get as much water as we need from a tap and it's healthy to drink. The clinic doesn't have handwashing facilities that I've seen yet. The toilet in my house flushes when someone takes a bucket bath and uses the waste water to put down the toilet.

Did I say that I miss water?? And that today, I have my first attack of stomach cramps and diarrhea? So I've rested much, purchased a dresser for my clothes and now am going to relish the books Norma sent me 7 days ago which arrived fast and in good condition!

Cheers
Sara

Swearing in and leaving Lima

Well, I am now officially a Peace Corps volunteer after the swearing in ceremony last Friday. We gathered under a red, white and blue canopy, sang the Peruvian and US national anthems, heard words from the embassy rep, the Peace Corps director for Peru, one of the host mothers, and a representative from our group. Then we all took the oath to represent the US well and partied with our host families. After very tearful goodbyes to families and staff, we were trucked to a hostel in Lima for the night.

This is such an unpredictable experience! The hostel was a pretty dingy place with a couple of bathrooms down the hall and rooms full of bunkbeds. I was so tired that I wanted a less chaotic room so I shared the night with one other volunteer, Douglas who had a fever and was vomiting. In fact, he threw up right before the ceremony, went on to give a terrific speech and then threw up the rest of the evening! And shared a room with one very tired woman.

Saturday, we spent saying goodbyes to each other as many of us will not have much contact from now on except by cell phone which we can use free to call each other. When my host mom looked at our group photo with my white hair in the midst of this big group, she said, "you have 45 new kids" and I answered, "no, I have 2 kids in the US and 45 new friends here" which is quite true. So at 4PM, the 5 of us headed for Tumbes got on a bus for a 20 hour bus ride. Yep, you got that right, 4PM until noon the following day. We were greeted in Tumbes by two other volunteers who took us to a hostel for a shower, out for cerviche, and a bit of rest. Then the other Sarah in our group was robbed of her money and ID as she was walking down the street, also getting one leg banged up as she fell in this incident. We did our best to patch her up and then I took off for my new home.

My new family is huge. 7 people in the house but extended family on all sides with lots of kids and adults in and out all day. I have a room on the side of the living room with 3/4 wall so there are no noise filters. There is no running water, in fact water is in short supply so I will have bucket baths for 2 years. And all this is offset by the incredible support and warmth of this big family.

Today, my first day, I started by going along in an ambulance to the nearest hospital with a woman in preterm labor. Then met more community people, detailed out more of my work plan and participated in a world AIDS day march complete with stilt walkers and all the kids from a big primary school. At the end of the march the staff from the health center did rapid HIV tests in front of a big crowd, including giving results. One of the prometoras (educators) from the health clinic was corralling people to give a short talk on HIV. I have a great picture of her giving a talk to a young man on a motorcycle surrounded by grade school kids.

So at the end of the day, I went to the beach with a few of the children in my big family to run and play in the waves. Then supper of tea, bread and banana. Now, I am about to collapse after I clean off my sandy feet and put in earplugs.

I am not bored...

Cheers
Sara

Eating the duck...

One of the constants in life here is unpredictablity and the knowledge that you are not in control! As another volunteer said today, "I realize that control is an illusion but I´d like a little more of it!"

My host family invited me to have lunch with the extended family in Lima on Sunday and I accepted the invitation. So Saturday, I asked what time we were leaving for Lima and learned it was 7AM. OK, 7AM I´ll be ready. What time will we get home? Well around 9PM... By now I was alarmed and renegotiated the getting home time so that in the end, I got home at 5PM.

So Sunday comes around and at 6:30 a knock on my door announced it was time to leave. When I came out of my room, my host parents were struggling to get the mother duck (think large white duck) into a plastic bag. There was a lot of flapping, quacking and plastic rattling. Finally the duck was encased up to the neck in two plastic bags and we headed off to Lima. What was my first clue that we were going to have duck for dinner?

When we got to Lima, I realized I was going to spend a very long day in a small room with the TV blaring, lots of kids playing and the adults talking over the noise. About an hour later, we ate tamales and tea. I was so tired that I asked for a place to nap and slept for 2 hours in someone´s tiny bedroom. When I got up, my host mom and I went to a huge, crowded market and I ate some really delicious rice pudding at a small stand after passing up on other options that had stomach problems written all them.

So somewhere in the early afternoon, we ate the duck along with a few vegetables, potatoes and the usual mountain of rice. I left much of the rice on my plate explaining that I´m just not a good Peruvian! All this washed down with Coca Cola or Inca Cola which is a caffeine free version of Mountain Dew. The baby ducklings in the back yard are now orphans.

And yes after several more hours of hanging out, I got a ride home in time to do homework. You never quite know how anything will happen here but I always know that I´ll be served a mountain of food with all eyes on the gringa to see if she likes it and will eat it all. I eat almost anything but draw the line at stuffing myself.

And today I learned that I´ve advanced another level in Spanish much to my surprise. We have a very hectic final week, swear in formally on Friday and ship out Saturday afternoon for 2 years in new sites. I´m tired and rather intimidated by what lies ahead but also feeling a sound sense of accomplishment for getting through this phase!

Cheers
Sara

Week 11 of Peace Corps training

Yep, I´m ready to move to Tumbes and begin my next 2 years of life and work. I do appreciate the training program, especially the terrific language teachers and at the same time being on a tight schedule day after day has grown old. Every since I came back from my site visit, I´ve been very tired but that 22 hour bus ride might have something to do with it. This next week we have a party for our host families, lots of administrative details, a formal swearing in ceremony and then on the bus to our sites (after a night of partying).

In the 11 weeks of training, I´ve learned so much both in the center and from my host family. I´m a long ways from Spanish fluency but also a long way from where I was on September 12. I´ve learned to ride the damn combi´s, haven´t gotten diarrhea, learned to eat rice day after day and had a great time generally. I´m on this journey with 47 adventurous Peace Corps volunteers who I´ve grown to love in a very short period of time. There will be tears shed when we head out in different directions...

I´ve had few down times, generally related to fatigue or frustration. I´m also about 12 pounds lighter than when I came, stronger and more energetic. I´ve asked Sean and Sara to go to my house in Madison and dig out some summer clothes as it´s going to be hot,hot, hot in Tumbes. I gave my warm winter things to a volunteer who´s headed for the mountains since there are no sweat pants in my future for the next 2 years.

Cheers
Sara

Looking for larvae

Wow. I could write a book every day but just hope to get enough on paper to remember this when I return to the US.

I spent the morning in a very poor neighborhood going door to door with the vigilantes for vectors from the health center. We went house to house while they looked for standing water, old tires with water in them, and water barrels without lids. They used flashlights to look for larva from the mosquitos that cause dengue fever. In one house they found an open water barrel full of algae and squirming larvae. They cleaned out the water and barrel, added some kind of chemical and gave instructions.

Never in my live have I seen poverty like this. I really am at a loss for words.

I've now met the principals of 3 schools, am scheduled to give an address to the entire school of 1300 including teachers and parents the day after I come back to La Cruz, have been to the community where I'm expected to work most, a very poor rural neighborhood of 300 houses. I've met so many people, have stumbled greatly with the language and watch as a mountain of expectations build all around me. I told my host mom at lunch that I'm not Mother Theresa. So I did the only sensible thing, ate lunch (fresh fried fish, lentils and rice)and napped in the hammock on the front porch.

I've learned I'm expected to work 6 days a week, half time in the rural neighborhood and half time with the obstetriz. That's going to include lunch with my family and a nap in the hammock mid day. Mid day, the folks in my host family sleep and watch TV. At 4 every day except Sunday, they gather for volleyball more faithfully than for church.

Speaking of which, I got roped into being presented to the priest and congregation Catholic tonight by one of the women at the health post. After which I learned that my host mom is Jehovah's Witness and can't enter the Catholic church. She told me I'd likely be shunned when they learn I'm not Catholic. Sounds like a blast. Tomorrow I go to Tumbes for the day and then get on a bus at 4 to return to Lima. Probably nonstop decompression with the other volunteers who've just met their sites and host families.

Did I say I still like this? It's true. Probably demented but true. Hope to get my host family to put a door on the bathroom before I return.

Cheers
Sara

La Cruz

Well, here I am in a tiny internet cafe next to my new home in La Cruz. What an incredible experience this is. I live 2 blocks from the beach with a HUGE family. There are only about 7 sleeping in the house but there is an enormous extended family in all the houses around me. I'll never get everyone straight. My first day here, I kept saying to myself, "you can do it, you can do it" because my room is on one side of the living room with a wall 3/4 way up. The music, tv and family activity are constant. There isn't running water, no refrigerator, no shower (bucket baths) and no quiet. Ok that's the down side and what the hell, this is the Peace Corps.

On the up side, I'm surrounded by strong women who are leaders in their community. My host mom must know everyone in this community and is president of an organization of leaders in a group that mediates conflicts. She's a natural leader who's worked to develop mother's clubs, preschools and goddes knows what else. She's awesome, is taking me around explaining Peace Corps, introducing me and giving me cues when I forget the ritual courtesies that are all important here.

I could write a book and may do so when I return but for now, I want to talk about how Obama has impacted people in Peru. I think I've met over 50 people in my short 2 days here and after about 5 minutes, every conversation turns to the election. You can't even imagine how much importance this election has for the US overseas. I have to say that again, YOU CANT IMAGINE HOW OBAMA'S ELECTION HAS IMPACTED PEOPLE IN PERU! Everyone wants to know who I voted for and how I feel. And on a side note, I brought pictures of my kids with me and everyone thinks Sean looks like Obama. People see is as a sign of hope and a victory against racism. Often people comment that he is a man of humility and compare him to Kennedy in his ability to inspire. This dominates every conversation with adults.j

Kids are another matter. I am surrounded by kids staring at the gringa. The children (grandchildren) in my host family took me to the beach yesterday to run in the water which is really warm. The adults thought it was hilarious when I came home with my slacks wet up to the thigh.

I've had to say goodbye to caution about food as I'm going to eat with this family for 2 years. Went to the market today with Silveria, my host mom and helped cook lunch. Said a prayer for my digestive tract after visiting the market. That said, the food was delicious, there are several fishermen in my family and they made sure I had fresh cerviche made with sailfish for lunch.

Wow, I could write a book... There's no question this is going to be hard work but right up my alley. My primary co-worker is a high energy obstetriz (midwife) along with the nurse in charge of the clinic who talks so fast I understand about 1/2 of what she says, The obstetriz is Gladys and the clinic nurse is Elke. Last night a young man came to the house to meet me, he works with a youth group and wants my help in giving charlas (talks) about safe sex, pregnancy, drugs, etc. Well, first I need to get up to speed in Spanish. I've been in meetings where I didn't understand a damn thing (unfortunately this includes my meeting with the mayor) but my one on one, I understand and am understood. I'm eating meals with my family and a dictionary.

Wow. More later. I am tired but after lunch the family put up a hammock on the front porch and ordered me to sleep! With motorcycles revving up, music blaring, kids hollering. If anyone knows how to do a laryngectomy on a rooster without killing the damn thing, please send me directions!

Sarita

Big day for Peace Corps Volunteers!

Well, today we got our assignments for 2 years, learned who will be close to us and got a brief bit of information about our host families. This is one very happy woman!

I´ve been assigned to a town called La Cruz (or sometimes called Calida Cruz) in the province of Tumbes. This is a town of 10,000 RIGHT ON THE OCEAN in the north of Peru on the Pan American highway. I´ll be 25 minutes from the capitol of the province and a very short distance from the border of Equador. The climate will be very hot (close to the equator) and the beaches are said to be some of the most beautiful in Peru. This area is also excellent for birdwatching as there are some reserves nearby that you go into by boat. There will be lots of seafood and fresh fruit.

Not only is the location great, but the work assignment is a perfect fit for me. I´ll be working with the staff at a midsized clinic in an area where teen pregnancies and rising HIV rates are problematic. I´ll be working close to the sites of 2 other volunteers from my group who were on field based training with me. Sarah and Robin will be great to work with, we all have different backgrounds and abilities that are complementary and we´ll enjoy working together. There´s a Peace Corps volunteer, Michael, in a nearby town that is extending his service for a 3rd year to work on an HIV prevention initiative. I met him last week and am really happy to be working with him. The first week we´re in site is the start of a year long HIV initiative so next week I get to use my barely adequate Spanish to invite the mayor of my town to go to a kick off meeting in the capitol with me.

As you can probably tell, I´m a little panicked about being on my own with my language abilities but it had to happen sooner or later! I´ll be living with a family of 7, will have electricity, water service 3 days a week, phone in the house, cell phone and internet service in the community. So I will be able to stay in touch easily. Anyone coming to visit will fly to Guayaquil, Equador and take a bus down rather than flying to Lima and taking the LONG bus ride north. And the capitol of Tumbes has an airport.

We ended the day with a talent show put on by all the different language learning groups. Yours truly sang and danced in a chorus line!

So as you can tell, I´ve landed in Peace Corps heaven and am one happy woman.

Cheers
Sara

What a celebration!

So last night a group of about 40 Peace Corps volunteers here in Peru talked a closed resturant into opening for us because they had a wide screen TV with CNN international. We watched, drank beer and cheered as we heard the results state by state. It was a riot. I was tired and went home at 10PM once I heard that Ohio went blue. So when I got up this morning, I was trying to figure out how to turn on the TV in my family´s home and heard my host dad hollering through the bedroom wall, "Obama gano!" meaning that he won. I started shaking and crying. Ran next door to the tienda just as it was opening at 6AM to talk the owner into turning on his phone service so I could call Sean and Jenni.

All day people have commented to me on the buses and street. On a combi today, as soon as I called out my stop (which means that once my mouth is open I´m identified as foriegn gringa) the man next to me asked about the election and everyone around listened intently. The Peruvians I´ve talked to are quite excited as well, see it as both change in direction and a victory against racism. Very thrilling to see such a sweeping victory for Obama!

Field based training

Well, I got back home to Yanacoto this morning at 10AM after an all night bus ride home from Piura City. This may be a ditzy blog from a tired woman!

What a week! We rode all night in a bus from Lima to Piura City last Saturday. The buslines here put Greyhound to shame! They call it a bus cama which means bed bus. Big comfortable lazy boy type seats, movies and food. We all really slept pretty well. Then after 12 hours bus to Piura City, the 4 volunteers and one trainer in our group went by a small bus to Las Lomas, hired a private care to get us to Porterillo where we met two great PC volunteers, Lizzi and Michael who were our hosts for 2 days. We stayed in a small hostel there. Day 1 we walked a LONG way uphill to see the progress on a latrine project Lizzi was working with. Beautiful country in the foothills of the sierra with rice fields, banana trees, birds, burros and irrigation ditches. Yours truly walked probably 2 or more miles uphill to this site hearing along the way "mas arriba!" or higher, higher. Lizzi´s project was really inspiring, the pueblos dotted with the blue doors of new clean latrines installed in collaboration with another NGO.

In the afternoon, after walking back down, our group gave a talk at a community meeting on how to clean the latrines, handwashing and tieing up or corralling the pigs to prevent trichanosis (I can´t spell in either language now). My part was brief because my Spanish is really weak in front of a group. And then fatigue and heat caught up with me and I abandoned the group to find a latrine before I threw up and fell over in front of the 45 or so community people gathered. However, I recovered quickly with some orange soda and on we went! Every tiny community we went through had at least one gardener with beautiful flowers and stopping to admire the flowers gave me a chance to rest!

The next day we went to a secondary school for a class with the teenagers on HIV and AIDS given by Michael. I was so impressed with his teaching, the kids were attentive and knew the basics about prevention. We all really enjoyed this visit and were inspired by Michael and Lizzie´s work.

On Wednesday we left for another pueblo quite a long way into the sierra. Drove by private cars hired on the street to a beautiful tiny town where we ate lunch and waited for a combi. The combi was full so we wound up in another priave care headed uphill on dirt roads. At one point the driver stopped suddenly and tightened the lug nuts on the tires which struck me as hilarious given that we´d been bouncing along for over an hour on rutted road and I have no idea why at that point he decided to check the tires to see if they would stay on the car...

Sicches was so beautiful with greenery, flowers and many birds I´d never seen. Brian and Angela were our host volunteers, a married couple working in programs of health and environment in a setting very isolated. They have an organic garden at the health clinic, with the primary focus on nutrition and garbage collection. I was able to see the mountains of Equador in the distance so said hello to Sara Ponce´s land! The beauty of the country was definitely there but also severe deforestation, 100% with sugar cane fields and dry, bare hillsides. We attended a great class on nutrition for infants and toddlers at the health post organized by Brian in a community where 46% of the children have stunting due to poor nutrition and chronic diarrhea. Then we saw the water system... These intrepid Peace Corps volunteers have their work cut out for them!

In this Sicches, we stayed in private homes and I slept in an inside room of an adobe house with a dirt floor. The host grandmother showed me to my windowless room, warned me to watch out for some flying amimalita that bites (zancudos which I still can´t identify in English). I spent my first night awake, listening and swatting. Lots of spiders, Sean would have been totally unglued. However, the family was warm, the 8 year old girl delightful and what the hell, I´m hear to tell the story.

The second day in Sicches, I stayed behind at the health post to talk with the obstetris (another word I can´t spell) about childbirth and women´s health care. This will go in another post! I learned a lot including that my Spanish holds up pretty well one on one in a familiar subject area.

Then one of the men in the town told me something I barely understood about there being only one bus at 430 that afternoon because the next two days were holidays. I got Javier, our trainer to get the story untangled because I only understood a tiny portion of this guy´s Spanish. So after a lot of excitement and flurry, we were on a bus to Piura City a day early.

So now I´m home in Yanacoto, tired, dirty and satisfied with a great week. On Tuesday we learn who wins the election and on Thursday, we learn our work sites for the next 2 years. Then next Monday, we head to our sites for a 4 day visit.

Wow.

Week 6 of Peace Corps training

Time is flying very fast. It´s hard to believe that I´m halfway through training and that very soon, I´ll be moving to my work site for 2 years. Tomorrow evening at 7PM, I get on a bus for a LONG ride to Piura City followed by another long ride to the pueblo of Sicches in Piura. I´ll be there for a week of field based training with other volunteers. We´re scheduled to learn latine building, teach some short classes in schools and meet with volunteers who are working in the community. We´ll be sleeping on floors (and the bus, did I say this is a LONG bus ride?) and getting a sense of the life in rural communities.

I´m pretty excited about seeing the mountains as it looks like we´ll be at about 9000 feet part of the time. I think we´re all excited about seeing the hands on work and seeing more of the countryside. The area we are in is truly desert, I´ve never seen terrain as dry. I read (while doing homework) that this coastal desert is 50 times more dry than Death Valley in California. I believe it as there is no vegetation on the hills, my family only has a roof over some of the rooms and there´s not been one drop of rain in my time here.

So now, I´m headed off to a neighboring town to find a large sun hat and generous supply of mosquito dope. Then home to pack the necessities for travel. Tomorrow I´ll be going with my host family to my host mom´s high school reunion before heading to the bus station. Every day is full and busy so I sleep like a rock with ear plugs in because I need to block out the chorus of dogs that sings through the night.

Now that I´m over the high of advancing two levels in Spanish, I realize how much I have to learn and want to take my language teacher with me when I leave the training center. My skills are so basic for living on my own!

So, google Sicches in Piura, Peru and you´ll see where I´m spending next week. I expect to be out of touch until I return on 11/2. My vote went in by absentee ballot and I´m anxiously watching to see the election returns.

Cheers
Sara

Quinceañeros in Peru!

What a time of ups and downs this is for me. I woke Saturday morning with so much back pain I almost panicked. Couldn´t imagine how I´d do field based training in a week with a 17 hour bus ride and carrying my backpack. But my trusty yoga routine for back pain re-aligned my back and by 1AM in the middle of the fiesta, I was dancing.

So I´ve now been in the middle of a quinceñeros in my house in Peru. What a blast. I really enjoyed the day spend helping cook and prepare in the kitchen with my host mom, her niece, and the first Peace Corps volunteer to have lived in their home, Vishel (originally from Chicago). Vishel came to be the official excort for my host sister and dance the first dance with her. I enjoyed talking (and lots of laughing) with him throughout this whole thing.

The fiesta started at midnight (yep,you read that right!) with Vishel escorting Milagros down the walk to the house and through an arch of balloons. I don´t want to remember how many balloons we blew up that day. The house had been repainted (much of it that day) and extensively decorated. Then Milagros walked through her court of friends blowing out candles. Then followed formal presentations by her mom, dad, Vishel, godmother and I´m not sure who all else. Words from someone hired to MC the program. Then a formal waltz with all the important men in the room. A toast of some delicious cocktail made from orange syrup and pisco.

And then the party began. Lots of young people lining the room eyeing each other like at high school dances. My host mom wanted the dancing to start so she chased all the gringos out on the dance floor and yes, yours truly can dance to cumbia. Several volunteers from my group had come to share this celebration. Well then the young people came out on the dance floor along with the cervesa. Dancing went on and on. Lots of delicious appetizers made earlier in the day. About 2AM, dinner was served, ahi de gallina which is a Peruvian version of creamed chicken on rice and potatoes. By that time, the young people were getting fried so my host mom served them huge portions of food after which they began to stagger home. The family including the elders about my age had more staying power than the kids!

At 4 am, I went to my room, put in ear plugs and dozed off and on. I heard balloons popping and "Feliz cumpleaños" hollered at about 630AM after which the cake was cut. I heard the party officially ended around 730. Needless to say the house and family were wiped the next day. I slept some, did homework and am back in class today.

I wouldn´t have missed it for the world! Yawn. I took lots of photos which I can´t seem to post online because the upload is so painfully slow. And I have too much homework to wait for an upload to occur. Someday I´ll have time for this!

Cheers
Sarita

Some days are diamonds and some days are stones

At the end of week 5, this is one tired woman. And I woke this morning with my back in pain so I´m slow moving today. I was attributing my fatigue to my 65 years when I talked with two volunteers in their early 20´s at lunch and learned that we´re all pretty beat. This is intense training and adjustment, lots of folks with diarrhea and lots of homework. So I took a break from classes and slept 2 hours on the cot in the little infimary. Ah, sleep mends a lot! When I get home, the yoga mat comes out!

I learned yesterday where I will be going for a week of field based training starting a week from Sunday. With 3 other volunteers and one of our trainers, I´ll be going to the way north of the state of Piura, close to the border of Equador. We´ll be in the mountains at about 3000 meters which translates to about 9000 feet. I´m pretty excited even with a 17 hour bus ride to get there. I´ll not be on the internet that week! Probably be helping build latrines, sleeping on the floor of a host family and eating more entirely new food. One of the volunteers who´s been here a year said something I keep in mind, ¨The way to their heart is through my stomach¨. My host mom has learned not to put a mountain of rice on my plate but in a new setting, it´s eat, eat, eat. I´ve lost weight here though because I really walk a lot.

Tomorrow night at midnight begins the quinceneros celebration of my host sister. My house is really busy with preparations. I got out my 1 good dress to wear for this all night affair. My family wants to see me dancing even though I´ve told them my dancing is worse than my Spanish. I´m helping with some of the cooking and will try to get to a neighoring market town to find an appropriate gift. I´m also taking the photos for this and they´ll be able to send them to a grandmother in Argentina online.

I love reading your comments, thanks for the cheering section!

Sarita

Somewhere Dad is laughing

Every Saturday we go to the University of Agriculture in Lima for classes at La Huerta (The Garden). This is a favorite class for almost all of us since it is very hands on for most of the morning. The teachers are great, I generally understand the much of the Spanish and our language teachers are with us when we need assistance. We´ve dug up small plots, turned in green manure, planted seeds, started seedlings, learned how to make compost for a kitchen garden and generally enjoyed being outdoors with our hands in the dirt. Every time I am there I think of Dad, in part because many of the methods we see and learn are similar to what was done on the farm when I was a kid in the 1950´s.

I often think I hear Dad laughing as I learn about farming all over again from a new perspective. This week we had lessons in raising cuy (guinea pigs) which are a regular food here that I have not yet tried but inevitably will. Then we had lessons in bee keeping and extracting honey. A week ago, we had a totally fascinating lecture on agriculture in Peru including tiny plots, the increase in organic farming and then on to agribusiness which is just as ugly and important to the economy here as at home in the states.

I expect to have a garden wherever I am so I appreciate learning how it is done here with minimal technology. Every Saturday, I think I´ve come full circle back to my childhood and as I listen to the chickens in the chicken barn, I think I hear Dad´s voice saying, "you´ve come a long way kid!"

Life is good!

Yep, yours truly advanced 2 Spanish levels this month. We got our exam results today and I kept looking at mine over and over in disbelief. I´m now at mid intermediate which is the level needed for a field placement. I certainly have a hell of a lot to learn but today I´m on Cloud 9!!!!!!!!!!

And my host dad sent hamburger and VEGETABLES in my lunch with no rice or potatoes. Now if we just had water in the house so I could take a shower... I´m going to get gifts of food for my host family tomorrow because they are such a big part of my language learning. My host mom had told me I´d advanced 2 levels but I didn´t believer her and told her she was nuts.

I just finished an hour yoga class on the very dirty floor of the training center and looked around amazed that I´m really in Peru, learning Spanish, making new friends and beginning to look forward to field placement. We have 2 more weeks in the training center and then go to observe other volunteers in their sites for a week. Time is flying by. We´re beginining to plan a party for our host families for Thanksgiving day. Shortly after that we get sworn in and leave for our sites.

My family is having a quinceneros celebration for Milagros next weekend. They´ve warned me that it will be a big all night bash. I have a cooking assignment which is basically some kind of finger sandwiches for about 200 people. I got out of baking the cake by telling them about the disasterous cake I baked for Kirsten and Ron´s wedding that went into a landslide and landed on the floor in the reception hall.

Cheers from Peru!

Never a dull day

First, I want to say how much I appreciate the comments you leave on my blog. I feel like I have a cheering section out there across the wires.

What a week and tomorrow is Thursday. I had a bad day on Monday, melted down crying in language tutorial at the first correction. When I came home, yelled at the kids in my house and went into my room to do homework with earplugs in. So the windows start to rattle and the floor is shaking. I went outside where my 8 year old host brother, Nicholas looked at me calmly and said, "tremblor" which roughly translates to earthshake. The couple across the road were necking in front of their house so I figured I wasn´t going to die.

Then yesterday evening I went to a birthday party for one of the other volunteers. Drinking and dancing with with my companions in this adventure. It was a t-shirt graffiti party and I´ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Today in the combi on the way to the training center for a language evaluation, an old drunk man sat beside me patting my arm and a little more, calling me mamita and mamacita. I managed to put up a barrier between his arm and my boob until I got to my stop.

The language interview went well from my perspective. I hope I´ll advance a level. Then this evening another volunteer and I went to a nearby town to eat dinner and go to a Hari Krishna temple (the only one in Peru) which was very beautiful. So I actually chanted Kirtan here in Peru. And the teacher gave a talk in Spanish which I mostly understood. Afterward, one of the men there invited us to sit with him and talk awhile. Gave us an excellent lesson in pronunciation. And then in the smallest of small worlds, I found out he is from Puna at the south of Peru and knows the classmate of my friend Don Shmaus who has worked in Puna for many years.

So here I am in an internet cafe, wearing a lei from the temple and catching up with my friends. Had a good cup of coffee today, got to wash my underwear in a bucket and had a nap. Doesn´t get any better than that.

Cheers
Sarita

At the end of week 3

I must say time is flying. The first week hear seemed like a month and this week went from Monday to Friday in a blur. I consider it a huge accomplishment that I am no longer afraid of the combi's, ride them home at night and yell at the driver if he looks like he´s going to miss my stop. I´ve lost weight from walking a lot. Today I took a moto taxi downhill because I had linger talking with my host mom at breakfast. Never again. About halfway down the hill when the driver hit maximum velocity, I closed my eyes and said, "Jesus, just let me live to the bottom of the hill!" And of course I did!

I understand most of what is said in classes that are all in Spanish. Sometimes I can talk pretty well and sometimes I open my mouth to watch a stream of unrelated words pour out in no particular order. I give my host family a lot of laughs. Like the time when I said that I have a man instead of I am hungry. Now I always remember the difference between hambre and hombre. One little vowel...

This week our language teachers took us to a large open market and turned us loose with the assigment of buying as much as we could for 2 soles (about 75 cents). We had to practice bartering, learn prices, interact with the shopkeepers in a warren of tiny stalls. It was actually a lot of fun followed by great ice cream. My partner and I bought a bag of onions, a bag of potatoes, a bag of peeled garlic cloves, 14 buttons and some ginger. He gets the credit for the bartering as he´s a tall handsome fellow with blue, blue eyes. Turned his charm on the shopkeepers and prices went down.

I am constantly amazed at the landscape. I´ve never seen anything so dry. The hills all around are stark naked bare of vegetation. Dust swirls frequently and the kids in my family are sick with respiratory illness. There are surprising and totally unknown bird songs, I only recognize the dove calls.

I´m pretty content and very curious now about what my work site will be like. Next week I´m doing a presentation for my health program group on breastfeeding. We´re learning a lot about methods of nonformal education. I wish I´d had this training years ago because I´d have used it over and over again. Today we had a whole morning of demonstrations on nonformal education complete with puppet shows, baking banana bread in an improvised oven over a fire and making rehydration fluids. Very practical, very hands on.

Cheers from Peru!

Living with a family

Well I must admit when I first read that I´ll be living with a family the entire time I will be in Peru, I was quite taken aback. And now after 2 weeks, I realize that it´s a good thing. I like my first host family and they help me a lot every day. They are responsible for all my meals, washing my clothes and most importantly, helping me learn Spanish. They take this very seriously including the 14 year old girl and 10 year old boy who help me with homework and correct my language errors. My host dad and I often talk an hour or so in the evening and I can tell you people here know more about US politics than we ever know about another country. And I have a 2 year old brother here who is really cute. He didn´t want anything to do with me for about a week. Then one day as I was leaving, I said goodbye to everyone in the family except him and he began howling. Ok, so now I remember to say goodby to Markitos!

A week ago Saturday my group went into Lima for a class in getting around and staying safe. We have had lots of classes in security including how to tell counterfeit money, travel safely, etc. When I was getting ready to leave for Lima, my host parents really grilled me. No backpack. No fanny pack. Only a change purse on an inside pocket. Well I didn´t take their phone number and got back late because another volunteer was sick and I went with him to the Peace Corps doctor. My mom was so distressed. She´d seen the other gringos come back and I wasn´t home yet. She went to the soccor field to ask the gringos in my group where I was and no one knew because they weren´t aware of what I´d done. She was sure I was kidnapped. So you know that I now carry my family's phone number with me!


Sometimes I think I could write a book titled, "Miss Picky goes to Peru" because I´ve eaten food I would not have gone near at home, learned to meditate and practice yoga with pigeons on the roof and the TV blaring, do homework in the living room while the 2 year old fusses, and generally live a life the opposite of my quiet house on Johns street. Sunday my host mom cut my hair "corte punk" and I feel more like myself with short hair again. And I made spagetti with marinara sauce that was well received. Learning to cook with what´s available both in foods and utensils.

I´d like to be learning Spanish more quickly but am so immersed I have no idea if I´m improving because I´m constantly aware of how much I have to learn. I may actually come out the other end of this experience bilingual!

1st Day of Spring in Peru

Hola! It´s spring in Peru and the sun has been out for 2 days in a row without the nasty fog that holds dust in the air.

Here´s a day in the life of this volunteer. I´m up early, learning how to meditate with pigeons walking on my roof and the chorus of dogs in the neighborhood. Then a quick COLD shower, breakfast of bread with some kind of boiled condensed milk made into a sweet butter and tea. Then I say goodbye to my family and meet two other volunteers to complete an assignment on learning about my community. While I was waiting, one of the community dogs peed on my foot. Marking territory. We started at the tienda next to my house at my host mom´s suggestion. I walked in and asked if he had a map of Yanacoto without any preliminary greetings, bad form in a Latino community. He was helpful and warmed up to give us a lot of information. I´m going back tomorrow to apologize for my blunt American ways.

Then on to find the family that runs the community PA system that starts giving announcements at 630 AM. What a great garden they have. I got a tour and lesson in the plant names here as well as an invitation to visit on Sunday. I had remembered my saludos!

Then 4 hours class in Spanish at a fast clip. After 2 weeks, I actually understand what my teacher says almost all the time. Lunch was a dense paste of split peas with rice and a scrambled egg followed by a coke and chocolate marshmello cookie. I´m improving my eating habits quickly!

Then a group discussion about what we learned in the morning followed by an hour tutorial. The other volunteers were out partying last night and a little ragged in class today. Grandma went to be early even though I would have liked to join them but now am over my cold and cellulitis!

Then home by combi, uphill by mototaxi with conversation along the way. I asked my host mom if I could go to the internet before dinner so thus the post. We´re hoping to watch the presidential debate tomorrow if it happens. My host dad caught me up on the US news after watching CNN in Lima today. He drives a cab often 15 hours a day and is home early tonight. Now dinner, a mountain of homework and to bed with ear plugs to block out the Holy Ghost chorus of dogs that sings in the night.

Did I mention that I´m glad to be here??? And that at this point I´d rather have a dog pee on my shoe than listen to the grim news in the US every day?

Wow!

Well this will be short because this woman is tired. We are in class 6 days a week and I get extra tutoring 3 days a week in Spanish. I encountered Lima on Saturday, walked all day, had some terrific ice cream in a fruit flavor called lucumba. I´ve also had a cold, sore throat and have cellulitis in one leg from infected mosquito bites so I was home on Sunday with my leg up. We get terrific health care so I¨m not worried, just tired.

And now can barely spell in English because I´m working so hard in Spanish all the time. Great people in my group, free spirits all. I now ride the combis by myself and holler at the drivers when they miss my stop. They holler at me for getting off too slow. My host sister and brother are working with me on homework, calling out numbers to add, subtract, divide or multiply so I can learn to hear numbers.

Love your comments and appreciate the cheering section. This is more work than starting a new clinic!

Day 2 of training

Hey folks, thanks much for the comments. I can´t write much tonight because I´m too tired but it was a good day. I survived my second trip on the combi bus, got most of my Spanish homework done, did my whole yoga routine. Tomorrow, we´ve organized a class after training.

The training here is really interesting. I´ve heard a lot about adult education methods but never seen them really used. We are a very active crowd. I haven´t laughed so much in a long time. Being able to laugh at yourself is a must here. I´m walking a lot and the other volunteers in my community go with me on the bus because I was so scared by the damn thing the first time. They roar off the second you put a foot on the first step. At least I know how to ask for my stop now.

I could write a book on the first few days but I don´t have time! Did I say I really like my family even with the chaos of 4 kids, 4 ducks, one dog and grandma with senile dementia?

Sara

First day in training

Wow. This is intense. I started my day with hot homemade soy milk because my host mother knew I have a lactose intolerance. Hot soy milk, bread, butter and jam. Well, actually I tried to start my day with meditation but a host of pigeons were walking on the tin roof over my room. 15 minutes of yoga worked with the pigeons on the roof. After waking in the night to the war of the dogs outside. I was so tired, I napped over lunch realizing I´d rather sleep than eat!

My host mother introduced me to the combi busses this morning as I take a bus to the training center. When I got off, I thanked God and my host mother that I was still living. Two of my compadres are going back to our community with me tonight and we´ll meet in the morning to go together. I´m too tall to see out the window and know where to get off!

I am still very impressed by the staff here. They really understand adult learning and make things fun. And we have laughed a lot, all of us as we compared notes on our experiences transitioning into our host families and making both cultural and language blunders.

I´m in the most basic Spanish class with 3 extra hours of tutoring every week. My host family is also committed to my Spanish learning. I sat with my host father last night talking religion, politics, earthquakes.

I´m pretty challenged and tired so if you´re reading this, comment as then I´ll know your connected and get your support. Tomorrow I´ll post a new address for snail mail, the address of the training center which is more direct. And the advice they gave in the handbooks about not sending care packages is for real, only music or books as things get stuck in customs, require lots of money and a copy of your passport to get out.

What an adventure!

Toto, we´re not in Kansas anymore

Well, I have a new home in a tiny rural town carved out of the side of a very dry mountain and a new family. We moved in with our families today after instructions from the PC staff. My family is made up of Walter (padre), Marta (madre), 4 children ages 2 to 12, grandmother (in her 70´s with multiple illnesses including dementia), a dog named Rambo and 3 ducks. They are incredibly warm and helpful. If I don´t learn Spanish here, I am hopeless. The youngest child, Jorge is a really independent 2 year old much like Alex at 2!

I have a great room at the end of a hallway. My room is big, airy with windows looking out at a small mountain. There´s a water delivery twice a week to a tank on the roof over the shower. I wish I could come home for 1 day and leave behind half my stuff. I have so much more than I need.

This family has had volunteers from 4 PC groups so they know how to help me settle in and will take me to the training center tomorrow until I find my way and can take the bus. Their house is at the top of a VERY steep hill so I´ll walk down to the bus in the morning and take a mototaxi uphill at the end of the day.

I´m writing this with the help of 4 year old Jennifer who can´t understand why Í don´t have the music and headphones on.

My house mother, Marta is in school 3 days a week to learn become a hairdresser. She ran a resturant but inflation drove her to close it. My housefather drives a cab in Lima long hours every day.

I have to say the PC staff here have been so helpful. They´ve really thought through how to get us started and provided a lot of support including instructions on how to take a bucket bath and how to tell people to get out of the way you have an urgent need to get to the bathroom. The bathroom talk is pretty funny as was a slide presentation by one of our two physicians on how to manage the inevitable. So far, so good.

Tomorrow we start formal language training which will include classes (yours truly will be in the most basic)lots of field trips, time in the markets, etc with the language staff. Walking to the internet cafe, I met a neighbor who is a nursing assistant in the local clinic. She´s going to talk to her boss about letting me observe a vaccine clinic in a couple of weeks. Yippee!

I´m tired but slept 9 hours last night. I am glad to get over the initial shyness about meeting my family. I feel quite comfortable with them. We´re organizing a yoga class at the training center for the end of the day. The diet of rice and potatoes in large quantities served together will be offset by the walk up the hill to my home.

Did I say I brought way too much stuff and am really glad to be here?

Day 1 in Peru

Well with flight delays we arrived in Lima around 10:30PM, got through customs, got the luggage for 47 people and arrived at the retreat center where we are for 2 nights at 1AM. Actually, all went well. The Peace Corps staff who met us were really helpful and welcoming.

We started orientation today after 5 hours sleep under the Peace Corps motto "hit the ground running". Tomorrow we meet our host families and move in with them. I had my first language assessment which was taped and am competing for the most improved volunteer award at the end of 11 weeks. Our orientation is really well organized and the staff here are great. Lots of good people and laughter in my volunteer group.

I'll learn on 11-8 where I'll be working and living although we will all be in coastal provinces. The health director is a nurse with her masters in public health, Emilia.

Many thanks to Mary, Sarah V and Nancy that I didn't walk out of my language interview in tears, especially since I barely could remember English I was so tired! We'll learn tomorrow or Monday which language class we're in but I already know I'll be in the most basic and learning fast.

Don't worry if you don{t hear from me much for awhile. I'm alive, well and cheerful.
Lots to learn. New food, cold showers, new bird calls. There was a llama hanging around on the porch of the retreat center today. Several yoga practitioners and more who want to learn in this group. Two guys brought guitars and another brought harmonicas so there's music in store while we're in training. I spend 1/2 hour struggling to use the keyboard in an internet cafe and then learned we have wireless connection in our rooms at this center.

Good start to the journey.

Tomorrow--Peru!

Well, I just finished 2 days orientation in Washington DC and am ready to head out tomorrow. I was a bit taken aback when I walked in and realized that there are 46 volunteers about 40 years younger than me--total of 47 in our group. After the 2 days together with lots of activity, laughter and information, I'm not worried about being left out. Lots of good people with some interested in yoga, some music makers, varied backgrounds as you'd expect.

It was hard saying goodbye to Alex who announced to his school, "This is my grandma and she's going to Peru!" The day before he asked what state Meru is in. He instructed me on the cool stickers to get when I get shots. I'll be connected to his school through a correspondence match as well as connected to Lily's first grade at Nuestro Mundo in Madison.

So tomorrow morning we have to have our luggage ready to load up at 6:15 and fly out of DC for Peru at 1PM. I'll be at a retreat center in Lima for 2 nights with more orientation and then meet my host family on Sunday. Sometime on Saturday, I'll have a Spanish interview. Gulp. Say a little prayer for me--preferably in Spanish.

Adios
Sara

Ready or not!

Well, I leave for Washington DC tomorrow and think I'm actually ready. Brian, you really are right, the devil is in the details (and I've been deviled by details). I took my packed luggage to the airport today to see how close I was to the weight limit and only had to do a bit of juggling. The large rolling duffel came in at 51.5 pounds and my backpack at 34. I don't want to talk about the daypack... And left behind books to be mailed later. Left behind the good coop peanut butter.

Last night I packed the big duffel, wrestled everything in place and then realized my yoga mat was sitting out in the corner of the room. Everything came out again to make room for that mat!

I've shed a lot of tears saying goodbye. And I'm very excited. While I'm a little nervous about my Spanish, about keeping up with the pace of training and about all the adaptation, I haven't once waked up and thought, "Oh no, this is a mistake!"

I fly to Washington DC tomorrow for a night and morning with Jen, Alex and Jeff. Then on Wednesday at noon, Jen will take me to the hotel in Washington DC where I begin this journey. We have 2 days of orientation (and probably immunizations) and fly to Peru on Friday the 12th.

Thank you to all who have lent many hands to helping me get ready for this journey. It's taken a village to launch this Peace Corps volunteer.

Last days in Madison

Wow, 2 weeks from today, I'll be checking into the Peace Corps training at the Holiday Inn, Georgetown, Washington DC. I'm flying in a day early to spend the evening with Jenni, Jeff and Alex. Congratulations Jenni and Jeff on your engagement! I'll be flying back from Peru for a wedding sometime next year!

I'm down to the wire on packing and last minutes details like how I'll get my taxes done while I'm gone. My friend Helen is now on my bank account so if you hear she's living in Paris in a little bungalow... I've been out of my house for 2 weeks staying with Norma and that's a relief--glad to be done packing up the house. I had a totally wonderful 2 weeks in the mountains in Montana where Edward left me with his house, car and fresh trout in the frig. I slept, hiked, practiced yoga, read and ate good food.

I'll be in DC over the weekend for Alex's 4th birthday, then back to Madison for one last week of packing and goodbyes.

I'm really looking forward to meeting the others in my group after reading their on-line bios and notes. It's too late to worry any more about my Spanish, I got what I got now!

From application to invitation

The whole process from application to invitation took 10 months and often felt like a part time job. I submitted my online application December 10, 2007. Then on a sub-zero day in January, I slogged through the ice and snow to a brief face to face interview with the on-campus Peace Corps rep. That was followed in February with a longer phone interview with the regional rep who then "nominated" me for a Latin American health team leaving in September. I later learned that there may or may not be a relationship between this nomination and where I would be asked to serve.

Then came the part time job, rounding up college transcripts (who keeps the transcript from 2 years at OSU in Corvallis from 1961-1963?), reference letters, fingerprints and the medical review. The medical review process was very time consuming. Try getting into a specialty spine clinic for a back problem you don't currently have... I am fortunate to have a primary care doc willing to spend the time to go thru old records and fill out the forms in detail. Medical clearance came thru 2 mlonths after the forms went off in the mail. Thank you Dr. Holly Keevil!

Then I waited and waited. I really wanted a Latin American assignment and was asked to submit a language assessment. At this point the process went from time consuming to frustrating. Randy Pausch in his great book, The Last Lecture, said that brick walls are there to let you know how much you want something. That pretty much sums it up.

About in April, I chose to live "as if". As if I would be going to serve somewhere in September. The Peace Corps gives about 2 months between invitation and departure. This wasn't going to give me time to resign a job, rent my house, put my belongings in storage and figure out how to manage finances while out of the country for 2 years. So I went ahead "as if" and by the time the invitation came, I'd resigned, made arrangements to rent my house and a hundred other details with no idea how it would all work out.

Then July 3, the friendly Fedex man rang my doorbell with the invitation. I was so excited, I raced to my friend Helen's house to open it with her. She wasn't home from work yet and I was too excited to wait. So I raced back home with the invitation sitting there like a bomb about to explode. I kept thinking, "What if it is Peru???" As soon as I got home, I opened the packet and there it was--Peru in September. Not much sleep that night--I kept waking up thinking, "Peru, I'm going to Peru". I am so happy with this assignment. 3 weeks away!

Getting started

There’s a long road between a dream of going into the Peace Corps in 1966 and my invitation to serve in Peru in 2008! The idea was dormant for years and then in 2006, I began to explore work in international health.

Starting point

• I talked with Ann Downer, faculty in Global Health at U of Washington and my sister's neighbor. She helped me realize that jobs in global health are hard to come by without prior international experience either paid or as a volunteer. Gave me suggestions about organizations for volunteer work and suggested Peace Corps.
• I read a lot about volunteer work in international health, contacted organizations and realized I wanted to live in another culture for a period of time rather than volunteer for 3-6 months.
• Read Finding Work in Global Health.
• Read Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer.
• Read Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders. While I have great respect for the work of this organization, when I closed the book, I let go of any fantasy of working with them. Way beyond my level of risk-taking.
• Met with Lori DiPrete Brown, faculty in the Global Health Department here at UW Madison. She gave me so many ideas that I left with my head spinning! And signed up for class fall semester 2006.
• First class—Global Epidemiology. Totally fascinating with outstanding lecturers. I felt like I’d been living in a VERY small world and wanted to learn more. Loved the reading.
• Second class—Health and Disease in Uganda. Again I was totally engrossed and encouraged by the professor, Cindy Haq.
• Third class—International Health Systems gave me a solid overview of the agencies and systems. More encouragement from professor Linda Bauman.
• Fourth class—Foundations in Global Health. While I was an audit student for the classes, in the prior classes I did the reading and showed up for class. For this class, Lori DiPrete Brown asked that I do all the homework. That kicked me into gear to write letter of inquiry to 3 organizations as well as do an intensive study of one country (Nicaragua—wish I’d known I was going to Peru!)

Taking the classes was terrific. One of the more helpful aspects was exploring the difference between disaster relief, humanitarian aid and development work. I moved from daydreaming to concrete planning once I knew I wanted to work in grassroots community development. All roads were leading to the Peace Corps but then there was the application process… More about that later.

What are you doing joining the Peace Corps at your age?

OK, so that's not exactly how she said it when Mary C looked at me puzzled and said, "Isn't this the time of life when you are supposed to rest and relax?"

The flippant answer is that I have a low tolerance for boredom.

Actually it fits a pattern. At 20, I went from rural Oregon to nursing school in New York City. Too naive to be scared of more than flunking the entrance exam which I had to take on arrival.

I graduated in 1966 and went to work at University Hospital in Seattle, Washington. A great hospital. At the end of a year I was listening to "if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair". So there I was in the Haight-Ashbury--shy, scared and curious. Yep, I became a genuine hippie.

And then at the end of my time in San Francisco, I married a fellow anti-war activist who also happened to be a wilderness fanatic. I followed him on his roller coaster for 13 years. After a disastrous back to the land year in West Virginia, we were on to Colorado for 5 years and Montana for 4. We hiked, backpacked, climbed and skied all over the Rockies up into Canada. Hiked to the base of the Bugaboo glacier with Jenni in a backpack, 14 months old.

Then on to Madison Wisconsin, divorce and graduate school with 2 little kids. So I raised Jenni and Sean essentially alone with my passion for wilderness travel unchanged. Summers I found ways to get to the Boundary Waters paddling and portaging.

At 52, I took a leap of faith leaving a secure hospital job to work for a struggling nonprofit clinic serving low income folks. Another wild ride through lean times and growth, ultimately helping open 2 new medical clinics and a dental clinic. It doesn't get any better than that in the work world.

So when you combine a love of adventure, wilderness travel, 42 years of nursing and a passion for social justice, what do you get? A 65 year old Peace Corps volunteer.

I've started this blog as a way for family and friends to follow along as I go to Peru in September.