First few days in site....

The first few days at site have been interesting. I feel like I am still going back to Lima, so I am trying to make myself realize that isn’t happening.

I have organized and put pictures up in my room, It is so different from other peeople’s sites I feel because my room, is solely a bedroom, it feels like something I would have in the United States, not just like a spare space. This has a real bedroom feel, like what I would have in my bedroom in the US. So it is interesting to hear what other volunteers have and are doing with their spaces. I really love my room, here are some pictures J I have several walls of love J

I have been spending my mornings at the CEBE, I was able to get to know some of the alumnos (students). It is interesting because it is really hard for me to understand some of the alumnos when they speak to me, I try to stare at their mouths and lip read, so I bet that makes me look less creepy and awkward. However I have found that a lot of the kids have potential and I am starting to think of projects that I can do for each student, or to include a lot of different students. It is also kind of frustrating because though I do have experience in working with youth with disabilities, I feel as if I am under qualified for my job. There are many kids here that need behavior plans and one on one therapy and I won’t be able to give that to them, I am just going to have to figure out what I can do, and poco a poco (little by little) make it happen. It will be a long process but I really think like it will be a great opportunity to learn and teach. I want to go visit all the houses of the alumnos to interact with them outside of the CEBE, but also to interact with the parents, and discuss their interest in working with their children, and when I find those parents who are truly interested in learning and teaching their children, I can start to figure out plans from there.

The alumnos all have talents, but there are some of them who make manteles, they are these delecatly sewn table cloths or place settings. They are truly incredible, they sell them and then they get to decide what to do with the money. I asked the two students that work on them everyday at school, what do you do with the money you make? With schock they told me they put the money right back into making more manteles, like it was a no brainer…it was quite funny. With this in mind I have started thinking about projects that the other students can do, even the ones who are the lowest functioning can still participate in a craft project. While talking to my directora of the cebe, I was explaining that every year with Muscular Dystrophy Association we make some sort of craft at camp and then sell it as kind of a fundraiser. I brought up the idea of maybe doing this with our students, and some of the kids could even do what we do at MDA which is paint flower pots, and other sorts of things. My director got really excited and she took me into this other part of the CEBE that I have never been in, and it was a huge carpentry room, where in the past kids have made picture frames, flower basins, and other really cool stuff. She was immediately talking about how we could do these things too. It was so cool to see her excited about doing this project. She told me that next year in June there is an annual street fair where they have sold their manteles before, and we could sell our other stuff there too, have a stand…I am so excited to see what we can accomplish in making crafts all the way up until next June. The proceeds can go to the students who invest their own money but also then back into the school to fund another project! I have so many ideas and I am super excited to keep a journal of all of them. My director and I have decided we are going to meet at the end each month to discuss new ideas we have for the CEBE.

I also gave out encuestas (surveys) today to all of the professors (the 3 that exist) in the CEBE. It includes questions about how many students come everyday, why more students don’t attend everyday, what are some successes the CEBE has and what are some of the challenges they face, and what they would like me to help with. I have two of the three back, and it is really cool to see what the teachers want in the CEBE and want from me in my time here.

Overall I am having a great time, I have been making a lot of my own food and getting to the bodega/panderia owners where I buy all my stuff. I have got the gringa price a few times but for the most part I have not really felt like I have been cheated. I hope that people get used to seeing me, as I will be living here for two years, and start to give me the Peruvian price for eggs and bread and stuff.

Cutervo is cold, but the people are super friendly and “warm” so I couldn’t be having a better time J

How many days does it take you to get to site?

So I know that it has been an extremely long time since I have blogged and I do apologize for that. These last few weeks have literally been crazy, and I have had no time to really do anything on the computer. I am going to have to start with site visits.

Site Visits were a crazy experience, we got our sites and then are literally shipped off two days later to see the town you will be living in for the next two years. You stay with your family that you will be living with too, so you can get a feel for if your living situation will work out too.

After arriving in Cajamarca after a bus ride from hell-o, I then left with my socios to go to my site. Socios are people that want to work with you in the community, they will be the people (if you are lucky) that want to work with you, and want to help you get integrated into the community and start projects. When I first met my socios I was surprised at how enthusiastic they were because it seems like I have only heard horror stories of all the socios of other volunteers. My socios, chris and one of his socios, and myself all took a night time bus to Chota which is further up north and is where I will be having all my department meetings, because I am too far away from Cajamarca City to travel all the way down there. We arrived in Chota at 3AM and Chris and I traveled to the hostal where we stayed, and we made plans for our socios to meet us there at 7:30 to go to breakfast and then head off to our sites.

6:30 my phone rings. I wake up in a haze, and answer it without looking, immediately sit up because Spanish is being spoken on the other side and extremely fast Spanish at that. I immediately explain I was not listening to that and to repeat, just so happens my socios are in the hotel lobby and want to go get breakfast. I explained that we were still sleeping, and they proceeded to come up to our room, where they sat down as I was still in my bed and so was Chris. We then discussed that we would get up and get ready, and we all went to get breakfast. I would just like to explain it is extremely rare to find Peruvians that are on time let alone early, but my socios are, and I am finding more and more that in Cutervo my new home many people are on time for things, which is great news!

After breakfast we proceeded to travel to our sites, the pictures below are of the drive to Chris’s site and to my site. The drive is through the mountains on a one way road, that most often has two way traffic, it is not at all safe, but I am going to be using this passage all the time ha oh how terrifying! Finally we get to Chris’s site, and after we dropped him off we started the ascent up to my site, which is still further up the mountain. My socios started giving me alcohol in the car, said it would warm me up, I gladly accepted, and the ride up the mountain became a little less terrifying J

I finally reached my site an hour and half later! I have a great family. I live with my mom, dad, and two siblings, Niyah who is 10 and Pedro who is 12. Pedro has down syndrome and he goes to the CEBE (special ed school) that I will be working with. When a site is created, people have to request a volunteer. Teachers at the CEBE requested that I come to Cutervo, so I will primarily be working in this school. My mom is crazy, she doesn’t seem very Peruvian more like someone from Spain, which is where some of her family lives. My brother is very loud and loves to give hugs and tickles, it is definitely a crazy house. My little sister Niyah, actually takes care of Pedro a lot, she seems to look after him all the time, she doesn’t act like she is 10 because I think she has had to grow up rather quickly, I can tell she is really happy to have me living with her, another person to help and to hang out with.

My first night at sight visit was kind of crazy because I was left alone with Pedro in the streets of Cutervo, he was running around infront of moto taxis and I was trying to get him to come sit with me while we waited for his mom, who was in a religious meeting thing. Finally we were able to go home and I went to get some much needed rest.

I woke up the next morning fresh and ready to start the day, I accompanied my mom and brother to the CEBE and I met the two other students that were there that morning (there are 16 alumnos that attend in total) and I got to sit down with the teachers and talk about why I am here and clear up some misconceptions about my work. I did learn that the CEBE is extremely excited to have me working with them, and they are pumped about getting some stuff going. It is kind of weird though because they seem to have it together other CEBE’s I went to in Piura were so different than this, I feel lucky but at the same time overwhelmed because I don’t know what I am going to do. However it was only the first day so I have time (2 years) to figure it out J

Later that afternoon the town was having a bienvenida for me, I didn’t know exactly what to expect but a little after three I walked into a room full of people and full of kids from the CEBE. I was sat behind a head table in the front of the room with my mom, the ALCALDE and the Director of the UGEL. There were many speeches and I was presented with a shoulder messenger bag that says Cutervo. I was then asked to give a speech which I did, and I think it went very well, my mom said that she understood everything and that I did a great job. I was then presented with a huge bouquet of flowers by one of the students from the CEBE, and they were so beautiful, I was so shocked and happy. They had people dance for me and after the ceremony ended we took pictures with everyone. Later that night my mom invited me to go to a ceremony for a saint in the streets with her, and so I accepted the invitation which I will be doing for the next three months so I can learn more about the culture and meet more people. However this ceremony was in the freezing cold cutervo weather, I had leggings, jeans and two north faces on, and I was still not warm not to mention I got my first sick wave since I have been in Peru, I could feel my stomach starting to hurt and I knew it wasn’t going to be a fun night. After the service ended I helped my mom serve sandwiches and coffee to all the people in the streets, and then I helped clean up, and I thought I was finally going to be able to return to the house and go to bathroom, get in bed, and get warm. I was wrong, there was going to be a small group staying and listening to and signing music to a guitar. We sat outside for another 3 hours until 1 in the morning. During this time I fell asleep and I asked several times to leave, and was always told one more song, finally when we did get home I had to dominate the bathroom, and I couldn’t get warm.

The next morning I woke up still sick, and started my journey back to the capital city with Chris because site visits were coming to an end. I left my house feeling sick and week and not looking forward to the bus rides that were to come. I was a little overwhelmed and just needed a bed, we finally made it back to Cajamarca the next day and were on the bus home to Lima.

The final week in Lima was crazy, all the days consisted of wrap up sessions. Matt, Kyle, and myself cooked blue cheese stuffed hamburgers to my family, and mashed potatoes with cheese, both of which were delicious. We also had a jam session in Matt’s living room, everyone was singing and just hanging out, it was perfect for the last week. We also went and ate Tacos at our favorite Taco/Pizza place in Chosica, and it was sad to know we won’t be getting those for a very very very long time…Thursday was the day for our host families, we had a party and everyone cooked. I made bacon and macaroni and cheese and cheesy potatoes, it was so much work but so worth it. The party was such a success and we had a enough food which I was extremely worried about. That night we went and hung out at Richard’s house for his moms birthday and all had a great time, it was just another night of hardly any sleep, right before swearing in. I showed up at the training center in shorts and a t-shirt and everyone was rushing to get themselves ready because we had pictures and some last sessions for swearing in. I can’t believe I actually pulled myself together, but I made it and after a ceviche lunch we had our swearing in ceremony. It was short and sweet and all 51 of us were sworn in as volunteers. It is the first time since 2004 that everyone from staging has made it to be a sworn in volunteer J

Matt and Me at the St. Eulalia Training Center

Sabrina and Me before swearing in :)

 Kyle and myself after a few tears :)

Goofy. Nick.

Friday night I ate dinner with Matt’s family and then we went and met up with all the other volunteers in Chosica where we all celebrated our last night together. Just imagine a Peruvian dance club with the sweat and the smoke and the craziness of dancing and super loud music, then imagine 20 gringos crying in the middle…and that pretty much sums up the end of the night. I had to say goodbye to some really great friends on Friday night, because we all had to go our separate ways the next day. Saturday morning I was frantically packing what was left in my room, and Sabrina and I made our way up the hill to Matt’s where we all said goodbye. It was my least favorite part of my time in Peru, but it had to happen and the longest trip ever to site began.

I got on the bus at 4:45pm and immediately fell asleep only to wake up the next morning at 7:30 in Cajamarca city, what a great way to spend a bus ride, passed out from not having slept and being emotionally drained..i felt so much better when I woke up. We spent Sunday in Cajamarca city we ate and went around and bought our last few things that we were going to need, and on Monday morning I was able to eat a fruit salad and get my things ready to go to my site. Our regional director was taking Chris, Josh, and myself to Chota, because we had so much stuff and it was half way to Chris and my sites. We dropped off Josh at his new host family in Bambamarca and then Chris and I had to stay in Chota because it was already too late to catch a collectivo. We made our way the next morning with Jose to find a taxi for us to take, only to find out that they didn’t go until late in the day because the road was closed for construction. Jose then decided he would take Chris and I to Chris’s site, and I could wait for the road to open and take a taxi, so we made that ride to Chris’s where we walked around his town, sat in the middle of a river on rocks and I read my kindle. Then we ate lunch, where I had fish (with the bones) for the first time, it was actually really good. After lunch we went and waited for a cab for me to take to my site, and we actually ended up finding a combi ( a little van thing) and I was off, by myself like I will be for the next two years! After an extremely terrifying ride I made it to my host family where I was greeted with open arms. I immediately left though to meet up with my site mate, Chris Huey, who is amazing. He had to leave to go meet his girlfriend Katie who is moving to our site for the next year, and so he gave me a quick tour and told me where I could find some great food and other things, and it was so helpful. After my tour I returned to my family and we talked I gave them the things I had bought in Lima for their kitchen (knives, pan, etc.) and I started unpacking some of my stuff. I taught my little sister go fish and then finally called it a night.

Today my sister gave me a tour of the town and I have unpacked my bags and would say I am 90% done with organizing my room, it sure is a process.

Tomorrow I plan on going to the CEBE and doing non-formal interviews with the teachers and hanging out there all morning. I want to find somewhere to work out in the afternoon and I want to study some Spanish, and talk with my family. These next three months are more free to explore, and learn about the culture, because we have to do a community diagnostic, which we will then present in November with all of the other youth volunteers.

I am excited to be here, but I do miss my friends, but I am going to be making new friends here everyday, and I can’t wait to get started. 

Pictures From Cutervo Peru

Post to come later but here are some pictures from my recent site visit :)

 Drive to my site

 Bienvenida

Cevicheeeeeeee

Today we had some amazing food in Cajamarca, and i would love to share :)

Caja...amazing? We will be changing that :)

Soooo much ha happened since my last post!
I have been back from Piura for about two weeks now. We came back and had only two days of classes because Wednesday July 27th was the start of the week long celebration of Peruvian independence, Fiestas Patrias. We were all at Chaclacayo, the business volunteer's training center on Wednesday for the cultural lessons and on Thursday a bunch of us went to Yanacoto where we hiked in the mountains and after had a lunch of eggs, cheese, and guacamole together.

We also went to a free pool and hungout for my friend Keren's birthday at her house. I took a fruit salad with yogurt and granola. Its so crazy how you can find, super fresh fruit here, and yet many people still don't eat it.
 I had heard about a run to celebrate Fiestas Patrias on Friday, so when the day came i woke up and went with my friend Keren to wake up other volunteers, Tina and Katy to come run too. We signed up becasue we heard it was a 3K, which is less than two miles. We didn't prepare obviously seeing as it was only going to be a twenty minute jog. However we were then informed as the race was starting, that it was actually a 6k. That is approximately a four mile run, i was getting a tad uneasy seeing as i have really only ran four miles like two times in my life, i am more of a bootcamp girl. The last time i had run that far was like 3 years ago too, so yay. We start the race, most of which is straight up hill, of course. However this wasn't the only challenge i would face, the fact there were still dogs and cars trying to hit/bite you this was an interesting race to say the least. Not to mention i had to stop to go to the bathroom. (The Peruvian food can sneak upon you.) The run took us up into the mountains and finally the last 10 minutes were down hill. Tina and i finished together and my host mom was waiting for me proudly. Turns out the 6K was an incorrect approximation. We had successfully just completed a 12K or a 7.5 mile race. What a success seeing as i had hardly prepared and by that i mean not prepared at all. Afterwards we ate ceviche and laid out at the pool. The town was so busy because everyone who lives in Lima vacations to our city of Santa Eulalia because its a completely different climate here, by that i mean sun and warmth and no fog. It was cool to see all the people celebrating with dances, horse races and such.
 Saturday night i made guacamole for a fiesta de comida we had at my friend Kidist's house. It was a great time with a lot of gringas. On sunday we also had a day filled with food. At nine am my friends Matt, Kyle and myself set out of the market where we purchased all the ingredients for pizza. We ended up having to make the dough from scratch, and we also made the tomato sauce as well, (Sabrina's work) we cooked successfully for five hours for matt's family. They ate and ate and ate, and so did we. We took the left over ingredients and added pasta and baked it, making a delicious pest/red sauce pasta bake covered in cheese to take to my friend Ali's for a pot luck. The activities for the weekend were so much fun but Monday we returned to school where we have continue language classes.

However wednesday we were told the big news, our site assignments. I will be living my next two years in Cutervo Cajamarca. This is north in Peru, i am actually pretty close to the rain forest. I will be working in a CEBE which is a center for education for kids with special needs. I will be living with a family of seven, but i believe only five of the people will be living in the house. My little brother Pedro has down syndrome, and i can't be more excited. My city has internet, bathrooms, and supermarkets. I am very excited to see what these next two years bring.
Today is Monday, we departed on Sunday on a 15 hour bus ride to come here. The bus ride was probably my least favorite experience i have had in Peru, a peruvian man sat infront of me, he reclined his chair which means his head was in my lap for the 12 hours we had remaining on our trip. I literally was trapped at one point, i couldn't move my knees or anything, it was the most uncomfortable time i have had yet...but it was well worth it when we pulled up to Cajamarca City, where we were greeted with mountains and trees.

There will be more to come after this week full of activities. We spend all week here in Cajamarca, tomorrow we will meet our socios (the people who help us in our communities) and then on Wednesday our group splits off, and each of us will go to our perspective site and stay with our host families for three days and live in site! We then return for our last week of training on Saturday, and we are finally sworn in on Friday. Busy Busy Busy, but so excited for everything that is about to come!
Until Next time,
Livin life in "Caja..amazing" hmmmm interesting slogan...wonder how long this will last.