6 months

I am a quarter way through my service. I cannot believe it- the time has rushed by and I imagine the next 6 months will fly by as well due to all the things I have planned in the coming months: I have a project starting next Monday (I’ll get to that in a second). School starts the 11^th. The last week of March I will be going to Chachapoyas for a hiking trip. In April I have Project Design Management training in Ancash. In May, I want to visit a couple volunteers in La Libertad. I probably won’t travel in June but then in July one of my best gals from the states will hopefully be visiting Peru. Then when August hits I’ll have completed a year of service!

So about that project I start on Monday…I was sitting in the municipality of Pimentel on Monday morning waiting to talk to the head of Human Development office about my World Map project…then three people walk in and sit down. After listening to them chat for a bit I find out one of them is the director of the juvenile home for boys here in Pimentel and they are there in the office trying to get some help from the municipality for training the boys. The department head then introduces me…she starts to say that I could possibly help teach English but I (as politely as I could) told her that I don’t really do that and pitched a different idea of “Pasos Adelante” which is a popular Peace Corps project that trains youth in self-esteem development, decision making, and sexual health education. The director and the other two women were really excited about it and so now I will be doing the class twice a week with a group of 15-20 adolescent boys and if it goes well then they can help me train the next group of boys. I’m also planning a project in the school with the high school students and there will be a drug/alcohol/gang prevention component and I think it would be really great if the boys from the home who have first- hand  experience can help talk to the high schools to steer them away from that path.  I’m trying not to get too excited about because so often when projects get planned they don’t turn out how you expect them…keep your fingers crossed for me!

 My summer vacation projects are winding down now and I got to say…not my favorite. It was fun getting to know some of the kids in my neighborhood but I just didn’t feel like I was very productive... I had very low attendance when it began and then I had a few weeks of a really solid group of kids but this last week the kids just stopped showing up…I’ve decided to blame it on the fact that kids want their freedom before school starts up again, rather than take it personally.

Ok so I’m going to rewind a bit now because I have to contar about my Carnaval experience.  Part of me wishes I could just tell you that it was BEST TRIP EVER and be done, but there are some pretty great parts of the story so I think it’s worth the space and time to tell you all. So Carnaval is the celebration they have before Lent begins, they have Carnaval celebrations all over Peru but the biggest one is in Cajarmarca which is a department 6 hours north of where I am.  The first day when I arrived, the volunteers and I bought water guns (it was a war zone, we couldn’t walk anywhere without water being shot at as or having balloons be lodged at as from balconies) at night we went to a bar to hang out with all the volunteers. I came across one volunteer who I had never met before and he goes, “I love your glasses let’s trade!” So he takes my glasses off and puts his glasses on me. We somehow get separated and I end up walking back to my hostel room to put my contacts in because I cannot find this guy with my glasses. In the morning I have a panicked voicemail from him because someone had run up to him and taken my glasses off his face…turns out it was just my best gal Brittany who recognized them as mine.  On the following day was paint day-SO MUCH FUN. We bought buckets of paint at a hardware store and then filled our squirt-guns with watered down paint. Brittany and I hadn’t left the hostel yet and we got paint shot at us when we were standing on the balcony. We danced in the street, followed a parade, threw paint into the crowd- the only complaint I had was that it was COLD! I think Carnaval would be better idea for a hotter location but Cajamarca has breath taking beauty so my complaint about the cold is minor.  Ok, one more Carnaval story…but first just note that if you were to come to Peru only one day out of the whole year I vote that you go to Paint Day of Carnaval in Cajamarca.  Last Carnaval Short Story-could be a great one to tell my grandchildren one day: So I’m in the plaza dancing with other volunteers and I wander down the street away from the plaza and someone runs by me and rips my fanny pack (yes I wore a fanny pack, get over it) off my body and runs away. Naturally I start to bawl my eyes out. Another volunteer, Nick, sees me crying, somehow finds out who stole my bag, punches this guy in the face, then gets punched in the face but thankfully talks himself out of having a full-fledged flight with this group of guys and miraculously retrieves my fanny pack. After talking to my bfff Jessica Elwell she renames the story, “The Peruvian Tale of: Nick, the Fanny Pack Hero” (imagine this in her very best radio dj voice) and she says, “I’ll get back to you with a better title “(if you don’t know Jessica she wants to be a voice over actress).  Moral of the story: Put money and valuables in your bra and put the more replaceable things in your purse or just don’t wear a fanny pack… that could be good advice as well.

There was so many other great things going on that weekend of Carnaval but I don’t want to overshare or bore you or make you too jealous so I’ll just leave you with this message which was written by another volunteer, Phillip, about donating to our departmental camp for adolescent girls:

"...Here in Peru life for woman is different. While it is possible to achieve positions of stature and importance the cards are stacked against. These young girls our looked at and treated as physical objects by many Peruvians (not all). They walk down the street being cat called, and pestered for no reason apart from that they are female. Part of this camp is to educate and empower these girls to know that it is not ok, it is not normal, and they deserve better. If you have any extra money to lend to our cause and in turn educating these young ladies about their futures and what they deserve please follow the link below. 

If you do not I will cat call you in the streets upon my return.”

You can donate as little or as much as you like please take a gander here!