biblioteca

After months of fundraising planning, building, and preparing, our community library is finally done! With cemented floors and walls and a nice paint job, the community members are very impressed with how it looks and anxiously waiting till it opens. It has been a great experience to see nothing there five months ago to now having literally the nicest building in our village. We have requested books from a program called PromoLibro, which is part of Peru’s Ministry of Education. Part of the budget that I had from kind donations also allowed me to purchase additional books for the library. A few weeks ago we had a community meeting and invited the local mayor. The library committee and I informed the community members and leaders about the advances with the project. Then, the mayor agreed to support our project by paying a small tip to the person who will be working in the library. Our next steps are stocking the library and cataloging all of the books, training the community member how to work in the library, and getting word out about the library.

falta un mesito

It is really had to believe that I only have about a month left in Peru. After spending 27 months here, I have mixed feelings about going home. I am really excited about coming back to my friends and family, but it is going to be hard to say goodbye to my friends and family here. This experience has definitely come with its ups and downs. But overall, it has been and very rewarding two years. I know that my life will never be like it is now. I will never be living among rice fields and thousands of mango trees and passion fruit vines. I will never again be bathing in the river, carrying 20 liters of water on my head every morning, and using the bathroom in a hole in the ground or a bucket in my room. I will never again be so integrated into another culture and family so different from my own. I will always have the memory of my 27 months in the Peru, but it won’t be the same. I am doing everything I can to appreciate every single day that I have left.

peregrinos a ayabaca

For the second year, I got the unique opportunity to experience a pilgrimage of devout followers of the Saint Señor Cautivo de los Milagros de Ayabaca. Señor Cautivo is own of Peru’s important Saints. Every October, pilgrims walk to the town, Ayabaca, where Señor Cautivo is the patron saint to touch the feet of a large statue of the saint. I watched thousands of people pass through my town on their way to the mountain town Ayabaca, about a two-day walk from Pampa Elera. People come from all over Peru. Some people come all the way from the southern departments such as Ica and Lima (I even heard there was a pilgrim from Chile this year). Some had been walking for over a month when they arrived to my town. It was a remarkable and even spirtual experience, to just observe so many people devoted to a saint that they would walk for days, weeks, or months to go to this town in the mountains of Northern Peru. The trek is not an easy one, as the pilgrims carry their belongings, navigate unmarked trails, climb over mountains, and some even carry large crosses or statues of the saint. This year I saw children as young as one years old to 60 or 70 year olds making the religious journey.

día de la educación física

Last week was World Physical Education Day. Every year the primary school celebrates this day by holding a “field-day” event. Because the teachers and students are so used to seeing me running in the morning areound the community, they asked me to help out with the event for the second year. I was in charge of the “Maratón,” where the kids ran about three kilometers. I walked down the road with about 30 elementary school students and got them ready for the race. Then we started our “marathon.” It was fun to run through the town with all of the kids and have community members cheer us on. After the race, kids also participated in a ball-throw contest, long-jump, and sprints.

progreso con la biblioteca

We have finally finished construction of our community library. We are getting final details together to move forward. Peru’s Ministry of Education has a program called PromoLibro that donates books to developing communities who have a library. So, in addition to buying books, my committee and I are working on an application to solicit a donation from the Ministry of Education. This process has been long and I have faced many unexpected challenges. But I have been enjoying the managing this project and it is exciting to see it finally coming together. The community members are starting to get more and more interested in the library and the opportunities it will bring.

cos

This week I am in Lima for my Close of Service Conference. My group and I have been in Peru for almost two years and we have only 3 months left. We all came to Lima for a conference to prepare for our last three months in site as well as readjustment back to the US. It was nice to see all of the volunteers again and hear about everyone’s experience. We all have lived in rural communities for almost two years and in some ways have had similar experiences and in other ways very distinct experiences. Our group started off with 48 people and 38 of us are finishing are finishing our two years of service. It was a bittersweet ceremony with mixed feelings about being excited to go home and distressed to leave our communities. At the end of the week, I’ll be heading back to my town and I’m anxious and excited to finish my projects and my Peace Corps experience.

chile

I have just arrived back to Piura after a trip with Dave to Chile. This is Dave’s fifth and final visit down to South America to see me. We had a wonderful time together, as usual. We got to see some cool parts of Chile, including the city of Santiago, the coast, and the mountains. We started out in Santiago, which is a very cool city, unlike any other Latin American city I’ve visited. We then traveled to Valparaiso, a city on the coast. We really liked Valparaiso, it had a young artsy feel to it. After Valparaiso, we traveled down to Cajón de Maipo, where we stayed in a little cabin. In the canyon, we went on several beautiful hikes and explored the area. It was a great trip, unfortunately the last trip I’ll be taking in South America before I come home. I feel so lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to visit so many amazing places on this continent while living in Peru.

mi aijiada

In rural Peru every family has a ceremony for newborn babies called “echar agua.” The baby has a madrina and padrino for the cermeony I was asked to be the madrina of my host cousin, Erica’s, new baby, Ariana Thais. I participated in the ceremony with the whole family. As the madrina, I was expected to dance and eat the most. The dancing was not a problem for me, the eating, on the other hand… They killed two chickens for the evening, which is a pretty big deal here. Because I was being honored as the madrina, I was served the BIGGEST plate of fresh chicken and rice and noodles and potatoes (balanced, right?). I broke my vegetarianism for a day to show respect for my new aijiada and family.

fiestas patrias

July 25 is Independence Day for Peru, or “Fiestas Patrias”. After spending my second Fiestas Patrias in Peru, I would say that it is a bigger deal than our July 4. Everyone wears Peru’s patriotic colors of red and white, there are parades all over the country, and school shuts down for over two weeks. My town, although small, shows abundant pride during this holiday. On July 25, all of the school children, town leaders, members of sports teams and clubs marched for Fiestas Patrias. Marches and parades here are nothing like parades in the US. It is a very serious affair, no smiling or waving; actually quite the contrary. Starting with 5 year old preschoolers to the oldest members of the community, everyone marches in a militaristic manner with straight arms and legs. They practice for weeks to perfect this art of marching. They take the parades very seriously and all of the parents came to me to take pictures of their kids. Here are some of the many pictures I took for Fiestas Patrias.

paseo en piura con mayra y gloria

Once or twice a month, I travel 4 hours to Piura, my capital city, to take a break from my site, take a shower, use the internet, grocery shop, and eat at my favorite vegetarian restaurant. Few people from my town have been to the city. It is relatively expensive to get there ($5) and city life does not seem to appeal to most of the older people. They say that there are too many cars, crime, and people in the city. They prefer the “tranquilo” lifestyle of the campo. I agree with them for the most part, I prefer being in my beautiful site where I know everyone. But, for me, it is nice to have running water and other amenities that I’m accustomed to every once in a while. Also, coming to the city means communicate with and accessing the outside world via internet. Not to mention, how would I update you all on la vida peruana blog if it weren’t for my visits to the city?

The two little seven year old girls in my host family, Mayra Tatiana and Gloria Marina always seem very curious when I leave home for the city. For months, I have been promising that we’ll take a trip together to the city. So, right now, as I type, little Mayra and Gloria are here amazed by the internet. We are staying at the hostal where I always stay, and I’m sure if any of you saw this place you would be less than amazed. But, Gloria and Mayra feel like they are in a luxurious palace. They are calling it “el castillo” (the castle). In the first place, this is literally the first time that they have ever walked up a flight of stairs. I had to hold their hands as we walked up to the fourth floor of the hostal. Taking a shower (and seeing running water!) was quite an experience as well. When we brushed our teeth the first night they asked me where to spit their toothpaste because they are used to spitting on the ground. They were surprised that they were allowed to spit in the sink! I took them to a pool, the movie theater, the mall, and different parks. We all have had a great time together and I am hoping that this will remind them that there is a world outside of our little village and maybe one day they will want to come here to study.

bibiloteca

One of the big projects I have been working on down here is constructing a community library and implementing a literacy program for the children and youth of the community. I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to start this project. I am essentially the general contractor of construction of a building. This would be hard for me as it is; and I’m doing this in another culture and language. We have finally started construction of the building after many months of planning and fundraising. I will continue to post updates about the progress of this project.

I would like to especially thank Elaine, Katherine, Caroline Knight and their family and friends who made a large donation to the library in honor of their husband and father Dr. Jim Knight. Jim was a wonderful man committed to humanitarian work in the developing world. I feel honored to be doing the work in the library in Jim’s name.

ancash

Huaraz is definitely on of the most beautiful places in Peru. In the middle of the snow-capped Andes mountains, the town and surrounding areas is an interesting combination of pre-Spanish conquest and western culture. There are a lot of tourists there for the treking and outdoor activies in the Cordillera Blanca and Huascaran National Park. The indigenous people there walk around in their traditional garb and speak Quechua, the pre-Spanish indigenous language.
Mollie and I had a great time touring around the city and going on hikes in the National Park. The area is covered in amazing glacial lakes and snow capped mountains. We hiked to altitudes above 15,000 feet (and definitely felt the effects!) and were astonished by the spectacular views.
I’m so happy that Mollie had the opportunity to come down and see me down here. It is always so nice to have someone from home see my life in my new (temporary) home. We had a great time together and I’m glad I’ll get to see her again in Charlottesville in a little over 4 months!

visita de mollie

At the end of June, my good friend Mollie from Charlottesville visited me in Peru. She came into Piura, the capital city and we toured around the city for the day. Then, we went off to my site for a few days. It was so nice to have her experience the ups and downs of living in Pampa Elera. She understood that even though it all is certainly not glamorous (the pigs, the dirt floor, the “latrine”, etc), I am having an experience of a lifetime down here. After meeting my friends and family down here, we travel about 24 hours to Huaraz, Ancash.

fin de construcción de las cocinas

After a lot of unexpected obstacles and stress, the community and I have FINALLY finished constructing 51 stoves in the community! It is so rewarding to see 51 little chimneys popped out of houses around the community. When I walk down the street people call out to me asking me when more stoves will arive to the community (hopefully my replacement volunteer can also do a project). But the mothers who do have the stoves are very appreciative and excited about all of the benefits of their new stoves. It is nice to have this load lifted off my back to have this project semi-completed. Now, I am just working on monitoring and evaluation of the project. I am continuing to visit the 51 families with my health promoters to ensure that they are still practicing healthy habits and using their stoves correctly.

valor

The Peace Corps volunteers of Piura organize leadership camps for youth two times a year. In February, we organized a camp for adolescent women and in June we organized a camp for adoloscent men. The three day camp aims to strengthen leadership abilities, community awareness in the youth to prevent machismo, alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc, as well as explore options for the future after high school. Each volunteer brings young leaders from his or her community so that they can meet other kids from around the area. The camps are definitely one of my favorite projects that I work on here because I get to see real changes in the kids that I work with. I took Deyvi and Andy, two kids that I have worked with in past projects. Neither of them had thought much about career options or university options after high school. On the way home from the camp, all they were talking about was how much fun they had at the camp and how they actually do want to succeed after high school, rather than stay in their community for the rest of their lives, get married at 18, and work on the farm.

cumpleaños de jesica

It is hard to believe that my little host cousin Jesica just had her 1st birthday in the end of June. Jesica is the daughter of Raul, the youngest son in the Garcia family of 9 children, and his wife, Roxana. Jessica was born when my parents and sister visited last year. She was named after my sister, Jessica, who everyone STILL talks about all of the time. Little Jesica is cute as can be and just started walking! The first birthday is a big deal in this culture and if the family has enough resources, they will throw a party. The parties are really cute because they have the exact same traditions for every party. My favorite is when the dancing starts. The little kids dancing cumbia and salsa is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

galapagos

After Quito, we flew to the Galapagos Islands! Our trip to the Galapagos was by far one of the best vacations I’ve ever gone on in my life. We visited 3 islands, staying on the largest island, Isla Isabela. We saw just about everything: volcanoes, endemic plant species, blue footed boobies, land tortoises, sea turtles, sting rays, mantarays, penguins, pelicans, flamingos, sea lions, frigates, land iguanas, marine iguanas, tons of other birds and fish. It was amazing how close we could get to the animals. They didn’t mind human presence at all. One of my favorite parts of our trip was swimming with and playing with the sea lions. We also swam with sharks and penguins. I’ll let the pictures show you all how amazing these animals were!