It’s been awhile since I’ve updated, and a lot has happened!
I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer as I swore in
this past Friday at the US Ambassador’s house in Lima, but that’s kind of
jumping ahead.
The last 3 weeks of training were a whirlwind. It started off with FBT (field-based
training) when I went with 7 other MAC volunteers to Lambayeque while the other
6 headed to Junin. We were divided
by the type of sites that we had (either coast/desert or sierra). FBT was awesome! We got to meet up with current MAC
volunteers in their sites and help them with some of their projects. The highlights included starting a
vivero, camping in the bosque seco, being a part of La Hora Ecologica radio
show, teaching about climate change in a school, and spending the night at a
zoo. Other highlights were the
food! I really do love Peruvian
food for the most part, even though there are days that I would give just about
anything to go three meals in a row without seeing a plate full of rice. It was great meeting the volunteers and
seeing their sites in Lambayque, and the ceviche was pretty tasty too.
After FBT we had our site visits, but luckily my region had
a day off inbetween that we spent in Lima. During this day we indulged in the world’s best sandwiches
and caught the new James Bond movie for the equivalent price of less than
$2USD. Then we headed to our
regional capital of Ica, Ica. The
first day was great—we got to hang out with some volunteers from our region and
enjoyed a fun evening out. The
next day we got the chance to meet at least one person from our communities
we’d be working with and one member of our host family before heading to see
where we would be spending the next 2 years of our lives. Unfortunately for me I found out that
there had been some issues with my host family situation. The initial family I thought I had
didn’t work out due to safety/security regulations regarding rooms for
volunteers (apparently wood is no good).
Luckily there was a backup, but that family backed out the day before I
was supposed to arrive.
So I spent my site visit in a hostel, which actually didn’t
turn out to be that bad. I got to
meet some of the people I’d be working with in my site and they seemed awesome! I will be working with two different
offices of SERNANP, which is essentially the Peruvian National Parks System,
one that operates a huge national marine reserve and the other that works with
some protected islands right off the coast of my site. Did I mention I got an awesome site
assignment?!?! During the visit I
also went to a meeting of an NGO that works with marine conservation, and they
gave some cool info about Humboldt penguins that live on the protected
islands. Staying at the hostel
allowed me to meet some backpackers and eat whatever I wanted, so it was pretty
relaxing all around. On my last
day in Paracas, I went to meet a family that had a room that somehow my
regional coordinator found. I only
met the mom and one of her sons, and they seemed pretty shy and timid which is
understandable since they had only heard of Peace Corps the night before and
now they agreed to let a random American live in their house for 2 years. The room is small but nice. It’s on the second floor and has its
own private entrance. The two
family members I met seemed nice, but I was really concerned that they would
change their minds and back out after I left for my last week of training.
After site visit I headed back towards Lima, but stopped in
a little beach town about halfway between Paracas and Lima for the regional
meeting of volunteers. My region
is made up of volunteers from Lima, Ica, and Huancavelica (we are
affectionately known as Licah region).
The meeting itself was pretty short, and it was just a great opportunity
to get to know volunteers from my region and unwind a little bit. The next day the trainees headed back
to Lima, where we found out that there was a change in our training
schedule. Instead of heading back
to our host families near the training center we went to a retreat center a little
farther away, the same one where we spent our first two days in Peru. While it was a bummer we couldn’t spend
our last week with our families, it turned out to be an amazing chance to spend
time together as our whole training group. We had our regular sessions, then at night we could swim in
the pool, watch movies, or just hang out in friends’ rooms. It was a really nice way for us to kind
of say goodbye before we headed to our sites.
But before we had to say goodbye, we had Thanksgiving
together with the staff at the training center! The logistics got a little hectic with very limited kitchen
use, but somehow it miraculously worked out and there was plenty of delicious
home-cooked food complete with turkeys for all 56 trainees plus the staff. The day got a little emotional as some
staff and trainees shared what they were thankful for, the majority of which
surrounded around us becoming such a tight-knit family. That afternoon was the host family
celebration complete with face painting, food, and a talent show. Sadly I did not display any of my wonderful
talents, but my family seemed to enjoy themselves. When the time came to say goodbye, I was surprised at how
emotional it was. My mom, sisters,
and nieces all cried as they hugged me one last time and I promised to visit
since Lima isn’t all that far from my site. I didn’t realize it until that point but they really do care
about me and I actually felt like a part of their family. After all the families had left and the
party was cleaned up, I went out for pizza and beer with some friends to top
off a great day.
The next day was what the previous 10 weeks had all built up
to—Swearing In Day. We were
finally to become true Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). We had to load all of our luggage into two buses, get
dressed in our fancy outfits, drive to Lima, unload our luggage at the hostel,
then head to the Ambassador’s house.
Well needless to say that this crazy day became even crazier when our
bus was an hour late, it didn’t have air conditioning, the driver couldn’t find
the hostel, and we were late for our own ceremony. But once we arrived everything moved quickly and before I
knew it we had taken the oath and were out on the patio having snacks. I talked with my host mom, other
volunteers’ host family members from my community, the Ambassador, my APCD
(basically my boss in charge of the environment volunteers), and some guys that
work for SERNANP in Lima. Before I
knew it everyone was being ushered out, we got on our busses, and then headed
to our Country Director’s house for a celebration. The party was a lot of fun. All of the staff was there to celebrate with us, the brand
new volunteers. There was food and
drinks, plus a huge dance floor that we definitely took advantage of. After hours of dancing, eating, taking
pictures, and laughing we left his house and went back to our hostel to get
ready to continue the celebration out in Lima. Our big group broke up into smaller groups, some of which
went out and some that decided to get some sleep. I went with a bunch of MAC volunteers, a couple health volunteers,
and some WASH (water/sanitation/hygiene) volunteers to a few places to grad
some drinks and dance some more.
Saturday was pretty mellow for the most part. There was a lot of packing, sharing of
TV shows and movies to take with us to site, eating more delicious sandwiches,
shopping at a handicraft fair, walking by the beach, and just taking advantage
of the spending the last day with all our friends for the next 3 or 6 or 12
months. Some people had to leave
Saturday night, so the goodbyes started, as did the tears for some people. It really is amazing to think of how
close our entire training group got over these 10 weeks. Not knowing when you’re going to see
someone next is a pretty weird feeling, but we all promised to keep in touch
and have planned to visit or take holidays together.
Sunday was the day I was slated to head to site. I actually had to leave pretty early in
the morning so that I could meet my regional coordinator in our capital city to
buy things for my room since it would be completely empty when I arrived. Fortunately for me, my partner in
crime/sidekick, Kate, also needed a bed so she got to meet me in Ica and go
shopping with us. To make a long
story short, after we got locked out of our coordinator’s car (which has
diplomatic license plates and people always stare at it as it is) and strapping
two mattresses to the roof, and then watching in the rearview mirror as one
mattress flew off the roof on the highway, we made it to my site and I unloaded
my stuff in what will hopefully be my only room for the next two years (I don’t
even want to think about having or wanting to switch host families after all
the hassle before). That night I
hung out with my host brothers (I have 4). My host mom was out of town, but my host dad was home and he
seemed pretty nice. It was a lot
more comfortable than the day I met my host family from training, but I know
that this nice I was speaking more/better Spanish, even though I’m still far
from fluent.
I spent Monday, my first day in site, not really doing much
of anything. I tried to go meet
with some people at my Municipality, but the mayor was busy and the guy I’m
supposed to work with wasn’t there that day so I left. I went back to my room and began to
organize some stuff. I ended up
taking a nap because I was so exhausted from the past week and weekend. I woke up and had lunch with 2 of my
brothers while watching Rambo 3 on TV.
Then I went across the street with them to check out the chickens and
roosters that they raise. Two of
my brothers actually raise and compete in rooster fights for money. Apparently they make good money and it’s
quite the spectator sport here in Peru.
I’m sure I’ll be seeing one of those in the near future. In the afternoon I went and played
soccer on the beach with my 15 year-old host brother. It was a lot of fun to play soccer and be at the beach in
the sun. Did I mention my house is
only a block and a half from the beach?
Not too shabby. Some people
may say I’m in the Posh Corps rather than Peace Corps, but there are still
volunteers that have nicer houses and sites than me. It’s all relative and no two services or experiences are the
same. After soccer I went for a
run down past all the rich peoples’ houses in Paracas. Apparently the rich people from Lima
have houses down here that they spend weekends and summers at, and for the rest
of the time they’re just sitting here empty. There’s also a Hilton and a 5-Star resort called Hotel
Paracas.
Anyways, this has gone on long enough. I guess now that training is over the
real fun begins. The days filled
with nothing or everything, depending on what I want to do and if one of my
socios actually shows up to a meeting.
So far this week I am 0 for 2 on trying to meet with people from my
Municipality. It looks like all of
the woes I heard from other volunteers are going to be true for me too. Oh well, I still have other people that
want to work with me and I’m sure I will be busy enough but still enjoy
everything Paracas has to offer.
Oh yeah!! I
finally have my real address for the next two years. I’m sharing a PO Box with some other volunteers that aren’t
too far from me. I have to go to
the next town over to get my mail, but it’s not that bad. The address is posted to the right, so
don’t be afraid to use it. I hope
all is well stateside or wherever you are reading this from!
Until next time,
Todd
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