Pasa La Voz Profile

Peace Corps Peru has a newsletter for and by volunteers called "Pasa La Voz"; every year there is a section of profiles written by the volunteers who are leaving. Here are the list of questions I selected to answer for the newsletter. I copied and pasted what I had written but in italics I wrote explanations/translations for those who probably won't get my PC lingo and added pictures :p  Enjoy.

<100 word summary of service written in third person:

For Alicia the most important part of service has been the relationships she has built. Alicia is certain she could not have made it two years without the support and inspiration from all sides, Peruvians, PCVs, especially the 19ers, (you beautiful, amazing group), and love from home.  Her service was been anything but easy but it was an amazing adventure.  Alicia hopes to be remembered not only for her Harry Potter tattoos (not for that hangry side you don’t want to cross…yikes) but as a great friend who sometimes hated but mostly loved the rollercoaster that is Peace Corps.

COS PROFILE QUESTIONS: <500 words

What was the best compliment you received during your time here?

“Are you from Brazil?” Thank you, Sir!

What is the weirdest thing you’ve eaten? Suri (grub) from the jungle.

What Peruvian article of clothing or accessory are you planning to rock when you return Stateside?  My kicka** high tops from Cusco.

Good toilet paper substitute: Notebook paper, yep it happened.

What will you miss the most about Peru/your site? My host mama, María.

think I could fit her on my carry-on?

Have you left Peru in the past two years? If so, where did you go? I went home to Iowa for Christmas and Ecuador for New Years, Montañita is amazing.

"home is people not a place"

these women are incredible people

Favorite/least favorite Peruvian dish? Favorite: Ceviche on the beache. 

(read: sa-vee-chae on the bea-chae) Least: Pescado de Caballa. 

(to me it tastes like the ocean water)

had to take this from google because whenever a plate of ceviche is set before me it is gone before I can think to take a picture

How many cell phones/bank cards/USBs/sunglasses/cameras/girlfriends/boyfriends have you gone through? I’m on my 3^rd cell, 3^rd USB, 3^rd pair of sunglasses, 6^th or 7^th bank card (don’t remember), 2^nd camera, and 0 boyfriends.

What’s your favorite place in all of Peru? Machu Picchu.

Do you think you’ll come back and visit Peru? How long will it be? Yes definitely but I don’t know when, it could be 1 year or it could be 5 years.

Did you pick up any new hobbies or activities? Running, I used to hate it but now I love it.

Favorite feriado in Peru? It’s a tie, Carnavales in Cajamarca and Semana Santa weekend in Ayacucho.

Really awesome Peruvian celebrations. 

fire regulations? pshhh- Holy Week Ayacucho

paint day at Carnaval is my favorite day ever

What is one thing that you will never acostumbrar to? Piropos, I still see red. Catcalls, grrrr.

How do you handle the piropos? Depended on the day and how much energy I had, my reactions ranged from ignoring them (while muttering curse words under my breath), to trying to shame them by walking up to them and telling them how disrespectful they were, to fake vomiting in front of them as I passed by. These are one of my least favorite things.

What scares you the most about returning to the States? Not finding a job.

Best read during service: So many to choose from! But I’ll go with  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

What did you miss most about the States? Besides the obvious answer of family and friends, Bloody Marys.

What have you done in Peru for the first time in your life? Ran a 10k in Pacasmayo and then the Lima 21k this year.

Also forget to mention that I went zipling for the first time, went on a 3 day raft race adventure on the Amazon River, and fulfilled my lifelong dream of holding a monkey.

Most memorable day in site: My 24^th Birthday.  Great day with fellow PCVs and my host family.

wiping the tears from my face

Have you changed? How so? Yes, I think it’d be pretty hard to not change in an experience like this. I am more confident in my abilities, I am more humble, patient, laid back and happy with the person I am.

What kept you going when times were tough? Inspiration from other amazing volunteers, just taking time for myself: keeping in touch with friends back home, exercising, reading, or watching an entire season of Game Of Thrones.

Shout outs: Betty Z. Brittany McLaren, Morgan Siegel, Andrea Mallory. You people are just lovely human beings I will miss being able to see you around Peru.

And to all the other 19ers, you are seriously incredible human beings. Abrazos a todos. Also of course Gioconda Zoller, my darling 20er who is a wonderful person!

Beezee aka Colombian superwoman 

Morgs-one of the sweetest human beings EVER

this lady Andrea is cooler than the flipside of the pillow

training bestie Brittanaaay

COS conference-These people are hysterical, you won't meet anyone like 'em #besttraininggroupEVER

I feel incredibly lucky to have worked alongside these folks for two years of my life. Because of them, I am changed for the better

Gia y yo

Countdown is as follows: 17 days left in Pimentel (holy shit), 22 days left in Peru (can't believe this is ending), 25 days til I'm Des Moines (I can't wait to surprise my mom), and 30 days left til I'm in mi querido Cedar Falls (tubing on the river that weekend, capiche?)

Abrazos fuertes from Peru until I can hug ya'll for realsies!!!!

Last month

The end of April, all of May and half of June have gone by rapidly.  The past couple months have been a whirlwind of emotions-self-doubt, excitement, sadness, panic, and now working my way to acceptance of the finality of my service. When I reflect back to two years ago I had little idea of what my life would be like as a Peace Corps volunteer. I imagined living in the middle of nowhere with no electricity and going to the nearby well to collect water while little children followed me around town. Suffice it to say I went into this experience rather blindly. Two months of training in Chaclacayo-Lima, Peru and the only response we got about what our lives would be was “it depends.” I remember hearing that phrase so much it annoyed and angered me but I had gotten myself into this and no way a little mystery was going to scare me away. When I finally got my site assignment and heard I’d be moving to a beach town, I think my first thought was uhhhh what? Two years later I have accepted that phrase, it really just fucking depends. It didn’t matter if my fellow volunteers lived 5 minutes or 24 hours away; they had entirely different experiences and for so long that was bane of my PCV existence. I would grit my teeth and turn green with jealousy looking on the facebook pages of my fellow PCVs of the work they had accomplished. But another volunteer pointed out, they post what they want you to see and they could be struggling just as much as you behind closed doors. It made me feel better but still doubtful. Now, I do admit I have doubt left in my heart about whether or not I was the best volunteer I could be. However with the help of my amazing volunteer friends, I have realized that I need to be proud of what has been done. I lived away from home for two years; sacrificing comfort and being perpetually lonely much of the time but at the same time sustaining a bond with my host family that will stay in my heart for the rest of my life. I attempted to create projects in my site, no, they didn’t all succeed, but I did try, maybe not as hard as I could of or as hard as another volunteer could have but I was here, I did this thing and I’m a better person for this experience and I am proud of me.

I’m sitting in a hostel in Chachapoyas, Amazonas, at the foot of the northern jungle, on my last vacation as a PCV, with one of my best volunteer friends Gioconda, trying to keep warm and thinking about how little time there is left. 1 Volunteer Report File, 1 Final Community Report (written in Spanish), 1 Description of service, 1 month rent to pay, a dozen or so items on my bucket list (some include learning how to make my fav Peruvian dishes to share with ya’ll) and so many farewells left between me and home. It’s like reverse when I was getting ready to leave the states, packing my things, doing all the things I will miss before saying goodbye. It’s a strange strange feeling to have for so much time longed for home in the states, now certain that I’ll feel this longing back when I’m at home. Friends back home, I will need your patience and love when I return probably more so than while I was here. Wish me luck on my last month in site. Can’t wait for those abrazos from everyone!!!!