So transportation is a bit different in Peru, as I have experienced very well. There are the usual taxis, and buses, but to add to that, there are also "Combi" and "Mototaxis." Now Combis are basically small buses, but instead only holding enough people as there are seats, combis tend to want to cram as many people as possible inside them.
There are also no designated stops. If they see you walking on the street, they will honk their horn at you and want you to get on. The same goes for when riding one, you have to tell the driver when to stop, but it gets tricky when you don´t exactly know where your stop is. A few times the driver has overshot our stop and we ended up backtracking quite a bit. Combis are apparently privately owned, so the "Cobrador" wants to fit as many people as possible on the combi, so that he can make a few extra bucks. He even goes as far as flagging down people in the street to come and get on his combi. Just the other day, the "Cobrador" was bringing more and more people on the combi, when there was literally no more room to be had. He kept on saying "There´s more room, move back," when another woman and I just rolled our eyes at each other. I was practically on top of another passenger trying to hold on for dear life as the combi zoomed ahead to the next stop.
Most of the time, you end up standing up since there are no empty seats. Empty seats are hard to come by, and you are certainly lucky if you snag one...especially on a long ride. It´s also best to hold on tight in a combi if you don´t want to end up in someone´s lap. Since they are private, they also try to compete with each other about getting more passengers, often disregarding speed laws (if there are any) and lines in the road. They´ve also get within inches of each other on the road. Peruvian drivers are seriously not afraid to get close to each other. There have been a few times where I think we´re going to come in contact, but we always scape by untouched (barely...)
I take the combi everday to get to the training center, and every day is different. First, there appears to be two prices: one price for Peruvians and the other for gullible tourists aka gringos. Now, since I am niether a tourist or a Peruvian, it´s been difficult to talk down the price everday. Now we aren´t talking a big difference in price. It may be .50 soles for Peruvians and .70 soles for gringos, which is basically only 8 cent difference in American dollars, but it´s the principle of the whole thing! And since I´m being paid mere dollars a day, every little bit counts. I usually have to either set the price before I get on the bus, or risk being haggled by the "cobrador" once on the bus. I´ve learned a few tricks of the trade though, from my host sister. She said that as long as you have exact change, they won´t cheap you out of your mone, which they do a lot.
So this last week, we had our first trip to Lima, which was super excited since I have been living in a town of only 1,000 people. Lima is the capital of Peru and has about 12 million people living there, way more than New York City even. On Friday, we went with our language teachers to get a lay of the land and to practice our spanish (por supuesto...of course). We went directly to the Plaza de Armas, which is basically the downtown of Lima. The Palace where Alan Garcia is situated on side, the municipality building on the other, and churches surrounding the rest. We learned how to bargain down a taxi ride, and even saw the Pacific ocean.
The final test of the day was to get home by ourselves, which is what I think to be a big joke had by all the spanish professors. We were given 6 soles for the day (which is about 2 dollars) and had the choice of taking a combi, a taxi, or a collectivo. My group elected to take a collectivo, which was 8 soles for each of us, since they said it would be shorter than taking a combi. Little did we know, that we would be hitting Lima traffic on a Friday night. We realized this only after we crammed 4 people in the back of the car, and ended up going 5 mph for about an hour. Needless to say, we weren´t the happiest of campers, but after having talked to some people who took combis back...we got home a few hours before them.
The next day, Saturday, we went back to Lima, only this time to la Universidad de la Agraria, where we are going to learn about composting, home gardenting, and animal husbandry. Again, the teachers let us find our own way home. Having fully realized how little we do make, We decided to take the combi this day. The only problem was we had such a big group, that not all of us were going to fit on the same combi, so we then split up in half. We had to take one combi to the main highway and then find another one that goes towards Chosica. We had to split up yet again becuase not all of us were going to fit, so eventually we were down to 3 in a group. The combi we happened to choose was jam packed (lucky for us), so we had to stand for a bit. Lucky for me, I found a seat right away and got to rest my poor legs for the hour long ride home. We made is safely home in about an hour, when we all celebrated by eating ourselves sick.
So next time you drive in your car to get to work or use the public transportation in your town, just thank you lucky stars that you are able to get to your destination without a worry...as for me, riding the combis is always an adventure.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Mi Abuelita
So I believe by far that I have the cutest Peruvian Abuela (Grandma) around, and I may just have to put her in my pocket and take her home. First, she´s the first person I´ve seen that wears a traditional peruvian outfit from la sierra. Her outfit includes a big black skirt with a peruvian apron on top, a white blouse with 1 or 2 cardigans over that, and then usually a shall, and a wool hat with 2 long braids hanging down beneath to complete the look.
She´s a very stylish lady and is in super good shape. Chacrasana is basically all uphill, and I see her constantly walking up and down the hill everday multiple times. I, being a fairly in shape twenty year old, have a hard time hiking up the hill everday, so she definitely kicks my butt...and she´s in her seventies!
Our converstations usually consist of "Hola Abuela, Como estas" (Hi Grandma, How are you?), where upon she will reply "Buen mami, Buen," as she taps my butt. It´s really endearing. I don´t quite understand much of what else she says, but I try my hardest. For example, I´ve asked her where she lives, and she says "en la sierra" (or in the mountains), but yet I see her everyday either in my house or in the street. So I´m not quite sure where she lives.
We had another funny conversation last night after dinner. As is typical in the sierra, she eats a lot of coca. She showed me last night and asked if I knew what is was. I played dumb and said no, and she just laughed. She then went on to explain that it helps with her work in the fields. She raises "cuy" or guinea pigs and also potatoes, carrots, more potatoes up in the mountains and since she works hard, the coca helps calm her stomach. She then went on to tell me that even though she´s from the mountains and eats coca, that she has 7 children who are all educated and successful.
Like I said, she´s one cool lady...
Now for some photos...
Health Presentations
She´s a very stylish lady and is in super good shape. Chacrasana is basically all uphill, and I see her constantly walking up and down the hill everday multiple times. I, being a fairly in shape twenty year old, have a hard time hiking up the hill everday, so she definitely kicks my butt...and she´s in her seventies!
Our converstations usually consist of "Hola Abuela, Como estas" (Hi Grandma, How are you?), where upon she will reply "Buen mami, Buen," as she taps my butt. It´s really endearing. I don´t quite understand much of what else she says, but I try my hardest. For example, I´ve asked her where she lives, and she says "en la sierra" (or in the mountains), but yet I see her everyday either in my house or in the street. So I´m not quite sure where she lives.
We had another funny conversation last night after dinner. As is typical in the sierra, she eats a lot of coca. She showed me last night and asked if I knew what is was. I played dumb and said no, and she just laughed. She then went on to explain that it helps with her work in the fields. She raises "cuy" or guinea pigs and also potatoes, carrots, more potatoes up in the mountains and since she works hard, the coca helps calm her stomach. She then went on to tell me that even though she´s from the mountains and eats coca, that she has 7 children who are all educated and successful.
Like I said, she´s one cool lady...
Now for some photos...
Mis perritos..."Petizo" y "Gringo"
Health Presentations
Me and my new friend Lindsey. I got a bit pink and have since learned to put on sunscreen.
Walking down the hill to catch the bus for school
Me and the "Pishca" getting to know each other. She is the resident cat at the training center.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
White Men Can´t Dance
So today was our first dance lesson. We´ve been having exercise classes after training everyday, and someone had the great idea of having a dance class. One of our language professors, Pablo, has volunteered to teach us poor "gringos" how to move on the dance floor.
Dancing is a big deal in Peru, as I think it is in most Latin American countries. One of the first questions I get asked after meeting a Peruana, is "Do you like to dance," only after having been asked "What´s your name and why are you here." What´s great about dancing is that even if you can´t communicate, dancing is a universal langauge. Even the men dance in Peru, and boy can they move! I´m quite impressed with everyone´s dancing abilities and I really think the United States should take some lessons from Latin America.
Our gracious leader, Pablo, has decided to teach us all various dances in Peru including Cumbia, Salsa, and Afro-Peruana. Cumbia is more or less the "dance" of Peru, and so far, I haven´t quite figured out yet what´s the difference between that or other latin dances...To me they are all the same, but I know that I will have plenty of time to learn in the next two years.
Cumbia was more or less easiest to dance to I think, but once we got into the dances of the "Selva" (Jungle) and Afro-Peruano, things were getting a bit more difficult, but today was only Day 1. If someone was walking by our dance class, it would of been a funny site to see "gringos" trying to shake our hips, but Pablo was very patient with us. I can just imagine Pablo to be the "Pied Piper" with all of us "gringos and gringas" dancing behind him. ha. We are going to continue having classes every Tuesday until the end of training where we will have a big swearing-in ceremony. The plan is to choreograph a dance for our host parents and PC Staff. It should be quite the show!
Dancing is a big deal in Peru, as I think it is in most Latin American countries. One of the first questions I get asked after meeting a Peruana, is "Do you like to dance," only after having been asked "What´s your name and why are you here." What´s great about dancing is that even if you can´t communicate, dancing is a universal langauge. Even the men dance in Peru, and boy can they move! I´m quite impressed with everyone´s dancing abilities and I really think the United States should take some lessons from Latin America.
Our gracious leader, Pablo, has decided to teach us all various dances in Peru including Cumbia, Salsa, and Afro-Peruana. Cumbia is more or less the "dance" of Peru, and so far, I haven´t quite figured out yet what´s the difference between that or other latin dances...To me they are all the same, but I know that I will have plenty of time to learn in the next two years.
Cumbia was more or less easiest to dance to I think, but once we got into the dances of the "Selva" (Jungle) and Afro-Peruano, things were getting a bit more difficult, but today was only Day 1. If someone was walking by our dance class, it would of been a funny site to see "gringos" trying to shake our hips, but Pablo was very patient with us. I can just imagine Pablo to be the "Pied Piper" with all of us "gringos and gringas" dancing behind him. ha. We are going to continue having classes every Tuesday until the end of training where we will have a big swearing-in ceremony. The plan is to choreograph a dance for our host parents and PC Staff. It should be quite the show!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Life in a small town...
So life is a funny thing. When I envisioned going to Peru, I was thinking I would be in the mountains, rasing guinea pigs, and being one with nature. Instead I living in a small-mini America. For example, last night I was watching "American Pie 3" with my 73 year old abuela who is straight from the sierra in peru. Sometimes I just have to laugh at my situation, but sadly no one understands why I´m laughing. Everyone has cell phones here also and some houses even have have wi-fi. But who needs warm, clean running water when you have unlimited access to facebook? At times I feel like things are backward, I suppose that´s just the way things are.
My town, Chacrasana, and my family, however, couldn´t be sweeter. Just yesterday I was walking around and starting talking with my neighbors, where upon they invited me to go to the park with them later. I then walked up to another volunteers house, where her family gratitiously invited me over to sing kaoroke. And yet again, I was invited over to a birthday party last night of one of the volunteers brother.
Now in Peru, it´s common to be offered drinks or food when you come in. In this case, we were offered dinner complete with beer and wine. I wasn´t about to tell them that I had already eaten dinner, so when in rome....I ate. This was also the second time that day that I had eaten double meals. Just 5 hours earlier, I was offered two lunches. My abuela was cooking up a storm outside and making this traditional soup from the sierra complete with a wood fire in our backyard. I thought that was what I was going to eat for lunch, but instead I was served beets and fish. I didn´t think anything of it until everyone else was eating the soup. I then understood (more or less) that they were afraid I would get sick from the soup since I´ve only been here one week. Only after I finished cleaning my plate did they offer me some soup....so again, I ate.
Like I said before, I was invited to a birthday party last night. Me and some other volunteers went, and I the family couldn´t have been happier. What I have noticed with the peruvian families, just how close everyone is. After dinner and some conversation, we cleared a dance floor and all started dancing...kids, parents, and teens. From my observations in the states, I think teens want little to do with their parents for fear of looking bad in front of their friends (Sorry Mom and Dad). But in Peru, everyone is happy to be together. Being around such a warm family, only made me miss mine more.
Now for some photos...
This is me in Chacrasana...half way up the hill.
Our lives for two years packed into bags
Mi cuarto. I´ve put up my pictures, so that I can see everyone before I go to bed.
My town, Chacrasana, and my family, however, couldn´t be sweeter. Just yesterday I was walking around and starting talking with my neighbors, where upon they invited me to go to the park with them later. I then walked up to another volunteers house, where her family gratitiously invited me over to sing kaoroke. And yet again, I was invited over to a birthday party last night of one of the volunteers brother.
Now in Peru, it´s common to be offered drinks or food when you come in. In this case, we were offered dinner complete with beer and wine. I wasn´t about to tell them that I had already eaten dinner, so when in rome....I ate. This was also the second time that day that I had eaten double meals. Just 5 hours earlier, I was offered two lunches. My abuela was cooking up a storm outside and making this traditional soup from the sierra complete with a wood fire in our backyard. I thought that was what I was going to eat for lunch, but instead I was served beets and fish. I didn´t think anything of it until everyone else was eating the soup. I then understood (more or less) that they were afraid I would get sick from the soup since I´ve only been here one week. Only after I finished cleaning my plate did they offer me some soup....so again, I ate.
Like I said before, I was invited to a birthday party last night. Me and some other volunteers went, and I the family couldn´t have been happier. What I have noticed with the peruvian families, just how close everyone is. After dinner and some conversation, we cleared a dance floor and all started dancing...kids, parents, and teens. From my observations in the states, I think teens want little to do with their parents for fear of looking bad in front of their friends (Sorry Mom and Dad). But in Peru, everyone is happy to be together. Being around such a warm family, only made me miss mine more.
Now for some photos...
This is me in Chacrasana...half way up the hill.
Our lives for two years packed into bags
Mi cuarto. I´ve put up my pictures, so that I can see everyone before I go to bed.
We had access to internet for 20 minutes and we all went nuts!
Dr. Jorge discussing Diarrhea. Let the countdown begin...
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Back to School
For those of you that know me, you know that I´m am a type-A nerd...but in my defense, I have relaxed a bit in these past years. Leaving college was hard not only becuase I was leaving my home of 5 years and my friends, but becuase I was leaving my place of learning! I loved going to class, taking notes, and juggling all my responsibilities. I couldn´t wait to get back in the "saddle," so to speak, which was part of the reason why I was looking forward to Peace Corps training. But alas, I have spoken too soon. ha. Now that I have homework everyday and on the weekends, I´m missing my freedom!
Training consists of 10 weeks Monday through Friday and occasionally on Saturday. My day starts with waking up around 7:30 am, eating breakfast, and going to spanish class at 8:30 am. The location of our spanish classes rotates around, so this week it was at my house, which was good becuase I got to sleep in an extra few minutes. I have 3 other volunteers in my spanish group and one profesora. We talk about a whole bunch of topics and use a lot of non-formal education, which the PC is big on. This last week we talked about Peru´s healthcare system, the geography of peru, how not to get robbed, our daily activities, and the current news. We also touch on a lot of grammar and of course, vocabulary. I think I learn about 50 new vocabulary words a day. But poco a poco (bit by bit), my spanish is improving. It helps to live with a family that doesn´t speak any english, although they speak quite fast most of the time. ha. Sometimes in our spanish class we go and give interviews to the people on the street about various topics. They must think we are weird, but they are usually very nice to talk to us poor gringas.
After spanish class, I eat with my host family and am off to the training center by 1:00 pm. We normally split up into our program groups at that time. There is Public Health, Water and Sanitation, and Environmental Education. Our tech trainers, Jorge and Javier, teach us different things everyday. Last week was a lot about non-formal education, which is big in the PC, and the goals our the health program. We already have a few projects, for example, we were all given "Mission Impossible" assignments. My assignment was to find a "casa naturista" or a health food store in Chosica. We started at a hindu temple, found a vitamin store and a vegetarian restaraunt that was closed, until we finally stumbled upon a health food store. We even sampled the yummy yogurt and fruit.
After our program charlas (talks), we either have a security talk or health talk. Yesterday, we had a talk about two of the biggest problems for Peru PC volunteers: dental care and diarrhea. Having talked to various PC volunteers, they all say its the most common illness that you will get. And we also learned a very interesting statistic. Nearly 70% of PC volunteers in Peru have diarrhea in their pants. Enserio! I laughed out loud hearing this statistic and I think it highly amusing and also a bit frightening. ha. But, I suppose when you have to go, you have to go. Hopefully, you will not be hearing from me on this topic in the next two years.
By then, it´s about 5:00 pm and training is over for the day. Being the physically fit group that we are, we´ve started running and yoga clubs after class. Every Monday and Wednesday, we have yoga and Tuesday and Thursday, we have running. There are also dance classes starting up, and even some Jizitzu classes! We are a group of varying abilities and interests.
When I get home around 6:00 pm, I eat my dinner and watch some telanovellas with the fam. My favorite so far is "Al Fondo No Hay Sitio." It´s very dramatic and has a lot of physical comedy, which is easy to understand. Last night, for instance, a character found out that his fiance wasn´t pregnant and was just lying! Que horrible! ha. Then, I normally sit down at the table and do my homework with my sister helping me. Then by 9:00 pm, I´m ready to hit the sack and nada mas!
Training sure takes a lot out of me, but I know it will go by so quickly...so I´m trying to take one day at a time...
Training consists of 10 weeks Monday through Friday and occasionally on Saturday. My day starts with waking up around 7:30 am, eating breakfast, and going to spanish class at 8:30 am. The location of our spanish classes rotates around, so this week it was at my house, which was good becuase I got to sleep in an extra few minutes. I have 3 other volunteers in my spanish group and one profesora. We talk about a whole bunch of topics and use a lot of non-formal education, which the PC is big on. This last week we talked about Peru´s healthcare system, the geography of peru, how not to get robbed, our daily activities, and the current news. We also touch on a lot of grammar and of course, vocabulary. I think I learn about 50 new vocabulary words a day. But poco a poco (bit by bit), my spanish is improving. It helps to live with a family that doesn´t speak any english, although they speak quite fast most of the time. ha. Sometimes in our spanish class we go and give interviews to the people on the street about various topics. They must think we are weird, but they are usually very nice to talk to us poor gringas.
After spanish class, I eat with my host family and am off to the training center by 1:00 pm. We normally split up into our program groups at that time. There is Public Health, Water and Sanitation, and Environmental Education. Our tech trainers, Jorge and Javier, teach us different things everyday. Last week was a lot about non-formal education, which is big in the PC, and the goals our the health program. We already have a few projects, for example, we were all given "Mission Impossible" assignments. My assignment was to find a "casa naturista" or a health food store in Chosica. We started at a hindu temple, found a vitamin store and a vegetarian restaraunt that was closed, until we finally stumbled upon a health food store. We even sampled the yummy yogurt and fruit.
After our program charlas (talks), we either have a security talk or health talk. Yesterday, we had a talk about two of the biggest problems for Peru PC volunteers: dental care and diarrhea. Having talked to various PC volunteers, they all say its the most common illness that you will get. And we also learned a very interesting statistic. Nearly 70% of PC volunteers in Peru have diarrhea in their pants. Enserio! I laughed out loud hearing this statistic and I think it highly amusing and also a bit frightening. ha. But, I suppose when you have to go, you have to go. Hopefully, you will not be hearing from me on this topic in the next two years.
By then, it´s about 5:00 pm and training is over for the day. Being the physically fit group that we are, we´ve started running and yoga clubs after class. Every Monday and Wednesday, we have yoga and Tuesday and Thursday, we have running. There are also dance classes starting up, and even some Jizitzu classes! We are a group of varying abilities and interests.
When I get home around 6:00 pm, I eat my dinner and watch some telanovellas with the fam. My favorite so far is "Al Fondo No Hay Sitio." It´s very dramatic and has a lot of physical comedy, which is easy to understand. Last night, for instance, a character found out that his fiance wasn´t pregnant and was just lying! Que horrible! ha. Then, I normally sit down at the table and do my homework with my sister helping me. Then by 9:00 pm, I´m ready to hit the sack and nada mas!
Training sure takes a lot out of me, but I know it will go by so quickly...so I´m trying to take one day at a time...
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
My journey thus far...
It´s already been 5 days since being in Peru and so much has happened thus far. I thought I´d clue everyone in on the basics, just so you know what´s going on, but feel free to email me otherwise as I have much more to tell...
Pre-Staging
I boarded my plane to Washington D.C. on Wednesday and saying goodbye was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I started crying as soon as I saw the airport and didn´t stop until I boarded the plane. As soon as I sat on the plane, however, talking with my neighbor and I realized that I was going on a great adventure and have so much to look forward to. As my sister said to me, it´s better to look at the possibilities ahead instead of what I´m leaving behind...so I´m choosing that as my motto whenever I get sad. Me and 56 others from around the United States met at the hotel in D.C. (5 people from Oregon) and had a small orientation to the peace corps as in what we can and cannot do. I started getting really excited when we were talking about our goals and aspirations, and again, I realized what a great opportunity I have.I had sometime in the morning on Thursday to explore the National Mall a bit, but the rest of the time was in orientation and or packing. I also got to see a good friend from college, which was an adventure in itself.
Arrival
Friday came before we knew it, and we all boarded our plane to Lima, Peru. Seven hours later, we exited the plane to find a man holding up a peace corps sign who helped us through customs, which was a relief to me since I didn´t want to think anymore....All I could think of was how funny is must of been to see 57 gringos with all there luggage walking around togther. Once we got through the airport, we had two buses waiting to take us to our retreat center, Huampani, a little bit outside of Lima. It was like going to camp becuase we all stayed in this bungaloos and had our meals together in a big mess hall. There were also horses and llamas just walking around (Photos to come). The most intimidating part of the2-day retreat was definitely our spanish interview. We had an interview to see what level of spanish we were at. Since I haven´t spoken spanish since graduating college almost a year ago, it was a bit of a stretch, but I was impressed with how much I still remembered. We also got to meet the country director, and other PC staff, which are all fantastic. They kept on telling us how lucky we were to have gotten Peru as our Peace Corps program. After two days of getting adjusted to Peru and to each other, our host families picked us up on Sunday...off to another adventure...
Host Family
So I and 8 other PC trainees live in a small community called Chacrasana. There is not much in Chacrasana. Basically two paved roads that both lead up a long hill. My host family is wonderful. I have a mama and papa along with two host siblings. My mom and dad are gone during the week in Lima, so my host sister basically takes care of everything for me. I call her my "mamacita," which makes her laugh everytime so I think I will continue to call her that. I also have three dogs staying with me. Two are 3-month old dogs called "gringo" and "petista." There is also another dog named "Marron," which doesn't care for the puppies from what I have seen. My house is nice in comparison to other volunteer houses from what I've heard so far. I have running water and electricity...and an electrical socket in my room! That apparently is gold right there! There is, however, no toilet seat, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to have muscular thighs after 2 years. And while I haven't had real coffee in Peru yet, a cold shower is a good substitute. I live upstairs along with my host sister and to get to my room, I have to go outside and greet the dogs first, which are always excited to see me. I thought after having lived in Chile for a while, I would be able to understand fast spanish, but no....I think my host sister takes the cake for talking fast. I usually just shake my head when I understand a word or two, but that's a bad habit to start becuase then they think you know more than you actually do...so now I just try to stare or ask her to repeat herself.
That is all for now. I've been trying to take lots of photos, so I'll try to upload some soon. I am also going to try to be on skype (username: anniebopannie) as much as possible, so if you have it, try to log on whenever you are online, so that we could chat. I would love to hear your voices and see faces!
Pre-Staging
I boarded my plane to Washington D.C. on Wednesday and saying goodbye was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I started crying as soon as I saw the airport and didn´t stop until I boarded the plane. As soon as I sat on the plane, however, talking with my neighbor and I realized that I was going on a great adventure and have so much to look forward to. As my sister said to me, it´s better to look at the possibilities ahead instead of what I´m leaving behind...so I´m choosing that as my motto whenever I get sad. Me and 56 others from around the United States met at the hotel in D.C. (5 people from Oregon) and had a small orientation to the peace corps as in what we can and cannot do. I started getting really excited when we were talking about our goals and aspirations, and again, I realized what a great opportunity I have.I had sometime in the morning on Thursday to explore the National Mall a bit, but the rest of the time was in orientation and or packing. I also got to see a good friend from college, which was an adventure in itself.
Arrival
Friday came before we knew it, and we all boarded our plane to Lima, Peru. Seven hours later, we exited the plane to find a man holding up a peace corps sign who helped us through customs, which was a relief to me since I didn´t want to think anymore....All I could think of was how funny is must of been to see 57 gringos with all there luggage walking around togther. Once we got through the airport, we had two buses waiting to take us to our retreat center, Huampani, a little bit outside of Lima. It was like going to camp becuase we all stayed in this bungaloos and had our meals together in a big mess hall. There were also horses and llamas just walking around (Photos to come). The most intimidating part of the2-day retreat was definitely our spanish interview. We had an interview to see what level of spanish we were at. Since I haven´t spoken spanish since graduating college almost a year ago, it was a bit of a stretch, but I was impressed with how much I still remembered. We also got to meet the country director, and other PC staff, which are all fantastic. They kept on telling us how lucky we were to have gotten Peru as our Peace Corps program. After two days of getting adjusted to Peru and to each other, our host families picked us up on Sunday...off to another adventure...
Host Family
So I and 8 other PC trainees live in a small community called Chacrasana. There is not much in Chacrasana. Basically two paved roads that both lead up a long hill. My host family is wonderful. I have a mama and papa along with two host siblings. My mom and dad are gone during the week in Lima, so my host sister basically takes care of everything for me. I call her my "mamacita," which makes her laugh everytime so I think I will continue to call her that. I also have three dogs staying with me. Two are 3-month old dogs called "gringo" and "petista." There is also another dog named "Marron," which doesn't care for the puppies from what I have seen. My house is nice in comparison to other volunteer houses from what I've heard so far. I have running water and electricity...and an electrical socket in my room! That apparently is gold right there! There is, however, no toilet seat, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to have muscular thighs after 2 years. And while I haven't had real coffee in Peru yet, a cold shower is a good substitute. I live upstairs along with my host sister and to get to my room, I have to go outside and greet the dogs first, which are always excited to see me. I thought after having lived in Chile for a while, I would be able to understand fast spanish, but no....I think my host sister takes the cake for talking fast. I usually just shake my head when I understand a word or two, but that's a bad habit to start becuase then they think you know more than you actually do...so now I just try to stare or ask her to repeat herself.
That is all for now. I've been trying to take lots of photos, so I'll try to upload some soon. I am also going to try to be on skype (username: anniebopannie) as much as possible, so if you have it, try to log on whenever you are online, so that we could chat. I would love to hear your voices and see faces!
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The Definition of Uffda
1. A multi use exclaimation from Scandinavia immigrants during the early part of the 20th century. Means suprised, disgusted, over worked, tired, over whelmed.
2. Used to express mild disappointment, similar to "oh my".
3. Used to expressed something is "too bad", "oh, poor thing".
Being as how my family is from the great state of North Dakota, we have been using this phrase as long as I can remember. I have just finished packing all my essentials for the next two years into 4 bags, and all I can say is "Uffda!"
For those of you that have traveled with me, you would know that I am not a good packer. I most always over pack for fear of needing that one thing that I left behind. So needless to say, packing for the peace corps has pushed my limits!
Here is a glimpse of my packing list:
-3 jeans
-2 work pants
-1 dress pants
-1 dress
-2 skirts
-3 blouses
-T shirts
-Fleece Jacket
-Rain Coat
-Sleeping bag + Pad
-Good undies, socks, bras
-2 half-zip pullovers
-Dri-wick shirts
-Running shorts
-Running shoes
-Hiking shoes
-Dress shoes
-Sandals
-2 Nalgenes
-Camping towels
-Laptop + external hard drive
-Ipod + speakers
-Yoga mat
-Books, books, books....
-Crystal Light
-Jelly Bellies
From this....
To this...
Whether I packed the right things or not, it doesn't matter by now since I'm leaving in less than 12 hours. I'll either learn to live without or have it sent or buy it while I'm down there. This whole peace corps things puts a new twist on "living out of a backpack..."
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Look Ma'...I'm famous!
So as it turns out, there is not just one Roseburg local going into the great unknown, but two! Patrick and I went to the same High School and swam on the same swim team way back in the day (Not sure about the whole preschool part, but it makes for a nice title).
Check out the article from the following link:
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20090907/NEWS/909079996/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055.
I tried to sound as eloquent as possible, as to not embarrass myself. You can be the judge on that.
Check out the article from the following link:
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20090907/NEWS/909079996/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055.
I tried to sound as eloquent as possible, as to not embarrass myself. You can be the judge on that.
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