Aaaaa Lima? Aaaaaa Lima?

Today was an exciting today for many reasons, and i shall explain more later but lets start off with a quick recap of this week.
This week was crazy with a lot of language lessons and a lot of crazy sessions like the week before, this week was pretty dense with information however on Thursday we got a special treat. Thursday our youth development group visited a school, we got to sit in on classes and talk to the teachers and students. It was a pretty amazing school, and we learned a lot about how different classes can be even within the same establishment. It was a great expierence, and i am sure i will be adding pictures sooner rather than later.

We also got a great surprise on friday, a carnival. We played games and indulged in Peruvian culture by particpating in games all day of different Peruvian celebrations. I have a video of a cuy (guinea pig) that runs in a cirlce, and runs into a box, and you get to bet on which one it will go into...i of course picked seven, and i won on the first round...muahahaha...then we got to cut down a tree (actually a huge branch that we planted into the ground for this specific activity). We got to dance to traditional music and cut down the tree with a machete (spelling ha) the tree was full of presents and it was a great day.

We then got out of school early around 12 and a bunch of us went to a concrete soccer field and played soccer for two hours, i scored four goals!!!!! Then we hung out in my friend Amanda and Nicks back yard, where there happens to be a river. It was overall the perfect day and provided us not only with some amazing cultural information but also sometime to unwind, considering our week has been so hectic. (At the moment we are forming youth groups within the community)
Today we went to Lima and it was amazing...i will be updating more when i have time, but all you need to know for know is that i am in a food coma...Pinkberry, Starbucks, Ceviche, Tacu Tacu...yum yum yum yum yum....
More to come, but until then!
Paz :)

Que Paso Internet Cafe???

So i am currently sitting in an internet cafe because i feel bad using my host families internet for long periods of time. But i really felt like blogging so i am paying to do this ha, also i will soon have an ethernet cord to be able to access the internet via my families internet, but wont have to use their computer so be ready to see pictures and other cool stuff....ANYWAYS i am going to start with the last part of this week.
I have had a crazy week at training, and i am dead tired. Last few days of the week were filled with language, language, and more language. I cant believe i dont know spanish fluently right now because i feel like all i do is try to speak spanish. However the more i speak the better i get so i guess i will be learning everyday...ugh.

Besides language i am having a great time, we started the weekend off right by going to Chosica which is the city that is down the mountain from my house, and pretty much all the other volunteers houses as well. We all met to go out on the town and do some kareokee, (i know i just butchered how to spell that) and it was a blast, i sang Roxanne by the police and Shakira´s hips dont lie (IN SPANISH) with my friend Katy and it was a blast. However the best part of the weekend was today, i woke up at 730 and woke up my friend Sabrina who also happens to be my next door neighbor and we traveled from our house far into Chosica to go to this olympic thing that my friend Ali´s family was participating in. I had my first moto taxi experience and it wasnt nearly as sketchy or deadily as i thought but i probably wont be doing it again. Anyways we went to this olympic festival where a bunch of kids and their families were on teams of like 10 kids a team, and they were each a different place, like spain, peru and other countries. They start the day of with a parade type thing and each team has to do a dance infront of judges, and we got put on the spain team and wore spain jerseys and danced with the kids. Then after that i got to meet all the kids and hang out with Peruvian families all day. It was so much fun, they all were loud and crazy, they had soccer games going and they had races going, and even later in the day they had volleyball going. I got to play volleyball with the Espana team and it was fun, but i felt like it was going to be like ¨Meet the Parents where Ben Stiller hits the volleyball over the net and breaks someones nose...so i was just passing it, but it was still nice to play. Sabrina and i left before the day was over and went to the super market where i bought the ingredients of a lentil soup to make for my family tomorrow. i also got the ingredients to make guacamole with some garlic onion tomatos and this sauce called Aji, look it up, because it is really good, and adds flavor to the dull rice we recieve with every meal. We also stopped and had ice cream which was oh so refreshing and then we headed back to our houses where i took a freezing cold shower and shaved my legs for the first time since washington dc...ya picture that and how nasty that is...but oh well that is life in peru. I was going to just hang out until my mom pointed out the window saying your friends, and sure enough my friend amanda and ryan were walking down the street so i joined them on a walk, and now i am here! But i have to go again because it is time for dinner...and yes i said dinner and it is 8 they eat so late here...ahh, but i will be back again sometime in the week and hopefully i will be able to provide pictures this time...
Love you all!

Primera Semana

June 15^th, 2011

Well today is Wednesday and though it has only been 7 days since I left Nebraska it feels like it has been a year. I can’t believe that I have only been here for a week, I think that is because we have done so much stuff in that little amount of time that I can’t believe it has all fit in 7 days. Lets start with Monday. We started our Monday off with a 6:37 wake up call aka my phone, I changed in my room and then opened to the door to breakfast being place on the table by my host mother. Her host daughters were both in their uniforms for school and sitting down to eat. It was interesting to see what they eat for breakfast, which happens to be more carbs! I had pan y queso (bread and cheese) tea (because she thinks I am sick) and yogurt that you drink. It was all very good, and at 7:30 Sabrina my next door neighbor I mentioned in my previous post, came to my door so we could walk to school together. We ventured out and up the hill and after walking about two minutes a car came up slowly to us and stopped, I yelled “No!” to Sabrina until I realize it was Keren and her host mom and dad! So we jumped in and received a ride to school. Classes all day aka 8-5pm, were mostly comprised of what I like to call “Syllabus Day,” or at least that is what they are called in school. Essentially you learn all the rules, what is expected of you and the overlay of your time, and that is definitely what happened :) After school a huge group of us walked back towards our houses together, but Chris, Sabrina, and myself decided to head out on the town to find a bodega for me to buy a water at, and for Sabrina to get some chocolate. We ended up going on a wild goose chase for the chocolate but were finally able to find some, and when we did, we all said our goodbyes and retreated into our homes. (Besides Chris who had a 30 minute walk back to his house!) I tried my best to speak Spanish with my host family again, I would say I already was getting better than the day before, but still far from where I need to be. We had soup for dinner, which was right up my alley and I was so happy to not have any more rice! I also experienced my first shower in my new home, which was probably colder than jumping into a lake in Alaska in January. I don’t know how people shave here, I envy those with the bucket bath (and I can’t believe I just said that). I later retreated to my room and bed time was shortly after.

I woke up on Tuesday morning a little disoriented because I had to take a Nyquil to stop my coughing in the middle of the night. However I managed to pull myself together and prepare for school. For breakfast I had pan con juevos (a spinach and egg patty on bread) with an oatmeal drink. It is a sticky oatmeal, coffee, and water based “liquid” that you drink, the taste is good, the texture is something one will have to adapt to. I also again had tea because I must sound sick ha…Again Sabrina and myself walked to school, meeting up with many others like Katy, Brittany, Amanda, Zack…a lot of people actually…Tuesday was comprised more of splitting into our language classes and splitting into our specific youth development groups. It is interesting to see how close we have all gotten already, it will be sad to leave each other after these ten weeks. We walked home yesterday again in a big group and then Sabrina and I kind of wandered from our neighborhood up to Buenos Aires neighborhood, it was pretty cool. We then went back to our houses, where I sat down and talked with my host family for like 2 hours, there was a point where I stopped thinking in English which was a major accomplishment. In school earlier that day we had received a cookbook made by current/past volunteers, so I started translating that into Spanish so my host mom could read the recipes…I did only the ones I liked J I told my host sisters I would braid their hair whenever they wanted and that if they ever wanted to play volleyball I would be very happy to join!

Today is Wednesday and I feel like this week will never be over, it is weird to think that I won’t be able to sleep in for like 2 years ha,  but such is life. Today we started off the day with four hours of a language class and for my group we got to be outside J Afterwards we again ate lunch and traveled down the road to the bodega we typically visit at lunch time. Afterwards back for more classes and group work, and then a big group of us walked home, but stopped at a bodega to sit and talk seeing as it is hard to really do so at school because it is so jammed packed. Now I am at my house and writing this because I am planning on going to an internet café or asking to use my families internet so I am able to post some updates for everyone, hopefully I can do this otherwise there may be more to come!
Here are some pictures of my new home :)

Habla Espanol?

 June 12th

Habla Espanol?

I have been in Peru now since Friday June 10^th, so approximately 48 hours. We flew into Lima around 10pm, and after going through immigration we sorted through what seemed like millions of bags to get all of our stuff together to head to our retreat center. After loading up on the bus all 52 of us arrived safe and sound at the retreat center about 2 hours outside of Lima. Granted by the time we arrived it was pitch black because it was past midnight. We were told to choose a roommate, I immediately yelled for Amanda Rodgers and then we all headed to our rooms with all of our bags (reminder: we were told we would not have access to our luggage the entire weekend.) After lugging all of our bags to our room, (down two flights of stairs) we opened our massive bottles of water and tried to settle in. A lady came around, after she had heard complaints of hunger from several volunteers, with sandwiches (a piece of cheese between two slices of white bread). Everyone dug in before heading to bed. 

Waking up bright and early on Saturday, to have our first Peruvian meal, which consisted of bread (pan) juice (jugo) and coffee (café), was the perfect time to talk to more of our group members. We all congregated in this huge room after breakfast where we introduced ourselves and then were briefed on safety and security. We then split up between business volunteers and youth volunteers and continued to do ice breaker activities and were given a brief overview “PowerPoint” of our program. We of course then broke out into arts and crafts, because that is what youth volunteers do best.  Everyone joined together again to be introduced to our language trainers, who will be my saving grace! We all headed to lunch where we were served Avocado topped with a mayo topping that consisted of mayo, peas, tomato chunks, and green beans. Following the starter we were served steak, vegetables, and potatoes!

After lunch we moved on to a more free form afternoon, attending a survival Spanish, speaking with the doctor, getting our picture taken, and receiving our first stipend or “walk around allowance.” We had a final “wrap up” activity before we were allowed to separate. Afterwards, a few volunteers (Hallee and Nicole) joined me for what I like to call a “mini-bootcamp” where I wrote down circuits of exercises I used to do at boot camp at home. After 50 minutes, we were covered from head to toe in black, Hallee has a picture and it is ridiculous! We all had to take super quick (ice cold) showers, before heading down to dinner. Dinner consisted of a “chicken noodle” soup to start, a beef/egg/rice dish, and finished with the Peruvian version of flan. After dinner I utilized the Internet they had available to Skype my parents and also check up on some Facebook. I was then invited to play Yhatzee, which I obviously did! I sat around and talked to several of my fellow volunteers before heading to my room to pack and go away. It was a jammed pack day but it was fun and informative.

This morning when I woke up I realized it was my last day being roomies with Amanda, who is amazing by the way. We headed to breakfast of eggs and hotdog chunks, before heading to our final session of the pre-training training. We got to ask current volunteers questions, before we headed back to our rooms to grab all of our stuff. We lugged all our stuff down to the five separate buses that had come to pick us up to take us to where we will be staying for the next three months, which is with host families from the community. This is also when we had to say goodbye to the business volunteers, who we are separated from, it was muy triste (very sad!).

            I was extremely nervous to meet my host family. Not speaking much Spanish at all is a little bit nerve racking especially when you are moving into a family that speaks almost no English. I met my mom Betrice, and found I would be staying next to another volunteer, my friend, Sabrina. We both lugged our bags with our host mothers to a taxi and headed to our homes. I arrived to my host family’shouse, which is on the side of a mountain, and as I walked in, I was blown away. Their home is beautiful, and very nice! I was greeted by Beatrice’s three daughters (all of whose name start with a K.), and we talked for two hours before eating lunch. (When I say talked I use that term loosely, I stumbled over words and tried not to confuse my host mother and her daughters, while they politely listened to me butcher their language.)

For lunch we had chicken with rice and vegetables, and afterwards Sabrina (my friend and current next door neighbor) came over with her host mother who offered us to join along for a shopping trip they were about to embark on, so we did! We took our first rid in a bus, which is like a little bus/van/car thing. We went to the market where we purchased beans and then headed to the center of city and were told to wait by a fountain while the mothers were in the chicken shop. Little did we know a moto-taxi was going to pull up with dead gutted pig inside, and park right in front of us, (see picture below). We sat and waited patiently for our host mothers, I was given a bag of chicken, which did have some blood on the handles, which I have a feeling I will have to get used to, we lugged the bags to the corner, and Sabrina’s host mother ended up heading back to her house, leaving Sabrina, my host mom, and myself to walk to the city center. In the city center on Sundays (domingos) there is a huge market (Mercado) with food carts, crafts, and pastries. We purchased a huge peace of cake with flavored leche layers, and we shared it while sitting in the grass in the park. We ventured to another market after that, which seems to be a lot like a smaller Wal-Mart, my host mom explained what different fruits and vegetables were there, before we finally took a taxi back to our home. I just finished unpacking, and took some pictures of my new home. I am so happy with my host family placement, they are so kind and understanding of my lack of Spanish knowledge, but also have provided me with a wonderful place to call home for the next few months.

I hope you enjoyed the update, pictures, and I hope that the pig picture offended no one!

 Life in Peru is different, but I will be learning poco a poco (little by little).

Staging

I arrived in DC on Wednesday night and was transported to the hotel. It was relieving to finally arrive and I was given a room key to room 349, and I was told I would be sharing with Tina, who was a member of our facebook Peru 17 group. I unloaded all my stuff in the room, and saw that my roommate’s stuff was already there, but she was not. I went down to the lobby again, and saw other random people sitting in the lobby, I immediately assumed they were Peace Corps volunteers, and so I initiated conversation, and was warmly welcomed! It was then where the fun began, Keren, Zach, and I decided to go to dinner and as we walked out of the hotel I noticed a cab pulling up, I was 99% sure it was Amanda, who was also a member of our Facebook group. So I proceeded to yell through the cab window, “Are you Amanda?” she seemed shocked yet relieved to be greeted by a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. She ended up joining us on our excursion for food at Café Roma in Georgetown. 

After stuffing our faces we returned to the hotel and proceeded to get to know each other, and the new volunteers that had arrived. After a long and emotional day it was nice to be greeted by such amazing people, who were in the same situation as me. I returned to my room, which was still empty of any roommate. I left Tina a little note, and hopped into bed, preparing for our staging the next day. Tina snuck in the room around sunrise, and immediately was asleep! I woke up a little later around 8:30, and as I walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth, Tina sat up and said, “KATHERINE!!” and jumped out of bed all cheery and gave me a big hug. It was the perfect start to the day. 

We talked about our lives prior to the Peace Corp, and talked about how excited we were both in the youth special education program. We were joined by Zach and Amanda, who were ready to wander and find breakfast, little did we know that we would be joined by another 6 volunteers, with whom we ended up eating breakfast with. After we returned to the hotel, everyone got ready; I put one of my many dresses on for our staging event and headed down with some of my new friends to registration, which was actually a very quick process. So quick when I walked into the icebreakers room I had over an hour of time to kill. I immediately found my Facebook buddy Chris and joined his table. 

This was the beginning of our staging; I got to know almost everyone in our group, even if it was just a first name. Everyone was so open and willing to talk, seeing as we were all in the same position, so no need to be shy. It was a long day of classes, and activities, but as it ended at 7, I felt more prepared for our departure the next day. A few of us (Chris, Amanda, Zack, Lucas, Sabrina, Kimberly, Mary Kate, Tina, and myself.) All ventured out into Georgetown to find some food, we walked forever, almost 30 minutes, to M street where we found a French bistro, where we racked up a 600 dollar bill! After dinner most of us proceeded to the bar down the street to watch the Heat vs. Mavs game, and celebrate our last night in America right! Dancing, German Soldiers, Bleeding fingers, and creepy old men with phone clips on their belts, we headed back to the hotel around 2am. It was so much fun and a great way to spend our last night! 

Upon return Tina and I finished packing, and devised a plan for our morning coffee and check out, and scheduled a wake up call. OF course when the wake up call arrived, both of us were a little sluggish and decided coffee would be better at the airport, we packed up our final things, and proceeded to check out and get ready for all of us to go to the airport! All 52 of us volunteers loaded up on the buses provided for us, headed to the airport! I checked my bags, weighing in at 40 and 50 exactly, and headed to the gate. All the volunteers grabbed some food and prepared for our first flight to Miami. 

The flight was fun, and we were able to talk to each other, however we did arrive in Miami late, 3:45…our flight started boarding at 3:30. So an announcement over the intercom on the plane was made, “For those of the 52 of you headed to Lima on American Airlines flight, they are holding the plane for you!” Ha, we all proceeded to head to our next gate, where we boarded the plane, and where I am as I type this. Take off was a little crazy a few of us were like, holy crap say good-bye to the US. But this is an exciting journey, that I am glad to have such wonderful people to share it with. I have a feeling this is going to be a life changing experience, and I know I will be making friends that will last a lifetime. My next post will be made from Peru, where I will be living for the next two years (ahhhh crazy) and I can’t wait to keep all of you followers updated!!

Departure Day

The last few weeks have flown by, full of “to-do” lists, parties, and goodbyes. Though it felt like it was never going to arrive, the day has finally come, departure day. Last night I said goodbye to some of my closest friends, people I have known since 2^nd grade, and people who have joined our group along the way. All of whom I truly love. It is so ridiculous to think that I won’t be seeing these people today, tomorrow, or even in a week, heck years. They have all been apart of my everyday life for years, and for this to change seems unreal. Goodbyes are difficult, but it helps to be comforted by Red Mango frozen yogurt.

Though we tried to stretch time with our hugs and small talk, the moment had to come where “goodbye” was in order. As Tone said, I never knew there were so many ways to say goodbye, all of which are so sad. Seeing as he watched one by one as friends said their last thoughts,…Erin proceed to tell me mom things like, “Be safe” and Lindsay ran away saying “don’t look at me” or Kayla and I hugged, approximately 17 times (Shocker Kayla hugging people). Until finally the time came for Tone and I to have our classic hug, with his classic laugh, and our classic banter. 

The hardest part however was yet to come, which brings us to today. Departure day started off with my last shower in my house, which I am sure I have taken forgranted, and moved on to running to the store with my parents to get a last few things. Picked up some ice coffee, which I also know will be hard to come by before heading home to sit on the front porch and ensure everything was in order. About an hour of shifting weight around and making one final edit, my bags were 100% ready. Weighing in at 48.7 lbs and 37.6 lbs, plus my back pack and Roo which total 35 lb as well,

We decided with an hour left until I needed to check in at the airport, we would run one final time to the oven, where I ate my last bowl of Muligatani soup before we headed to the airport. My brother joined us and at 2:20 I said my goodbyes to my family. Though I know the next two years will fly by, and that my parents will be visiting, and that with technology today I will get to communicate with them back home via ichat/email/facebook/and this blog, it was still the hardest thing I have had to do in my whole life. My parents have truly supported me in all my decisions. They have been an inspiration and guide as to how to live my life and treat those who I’m lucky enough to have in it. Saying goodbye to them was heartbreaking, but it is because of them that I have had the strength to make this journey.

I sit on a plane right now on my way to Chicago, where I will then catch my flight to Washington DC. Once in D.C. I will be checking into my hotel, and for the first time I will be meeting other volunteers who have also decided to go on this crazy adventure to Peru. I hope for the best, and would again like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement, but most of all love.

Departure day is well on its way and there is no turning back now....

Katherine