Hello, I'm Mike Ross, And This is Dirty Jobs

Ok so I’m not Mike Ross, but I sure as heck have felt like him over the past few days. So I’d like to think that you all know what Dirty Jobs is (after all the people reading this are either friends or family and let’s face it, we love that show), but just in the case that one of you haven’t a clue: Dirty Jobs is where a man named Mike Ross travels the country looking for the Dirtiest Job. He doesn’t just look for the jobs, he does the job for the day, it usually involves animals (the animal itself or their poop), trash, or just a ton of dirt. Well as it usually goes, Mike tries to do every job while under the instruction of the actual person who has that job--the other dude/chick usually is WAY better at the job than Mike, and thus we have the comedic part of the show--Mike usually sucks at these jobs, well at least at first.

So back to my point, I have been Mike Ross over the past week or so. To set the frame, my host Mom is in Lima because her daughter is sick, so she has been gone for about 2 weeks now. Then there is the Flu that’s been going around my town (but thanks to my Flu shot a la Peace Corps, I’m still going strong) that took my Host Dad as its next victim this week. So Cleo (the professor that lives at my house) has stuck around this week to help me “run the house.” So I have a few interesting stories to go with the “running of the house” that is Dirty Jobs material…

First let’s start with Cows, they’re always on Dirty Jobs, so it just seems fitting. Well we are in the rainy season here, which has NOTHING on a rain NC summer, let me tell you what. It pretty much pours from lunch time till 3am, we have precious few hours without rain where Mr. Sun reminds us that he does exist…not that any work with cows is does while the sun is out. So Cleo and I walked the 1/3 of a mile to the cow pasture, a distance that should take maybe 10 minutes, 15 if we’re walking at a Peruvian pace…but we’re about shin deep in mud and my Chacos have become encased in mud, and Cleo has her flip flops in her hand cause they aren’t doing her any good on her feet. About 20 meters (yeah I think in meters now) from the gate Cleo eats it in the mud (hey its 5am and its hard to see, how was she supposed to see that rock?). Now my conscious had a short battle between laughing and helping, but it chose laughing while helping her up as the best route…well within 3 steps of helping her up, I fall into the mud. Now you all are probably thinking this is funny. Yes, that it is. But the clean bucket we had to carry the milk back in is now dirty. So we have to walk another 30 minutes (due to mud our pace was slow) to the river to wash off the bucket. We finally make it back to the pasture with a clean bucket, rope the cow, get some milk, and begin the dangerous trip back to the house…needless to say we came pretty dern close to crying over spilled milk. Not too dirty you’re thinking (well I didn’t have my camera to take a picture of how muddy we were) but it was funny.

Now pigs eat everything and anything…one of the reasons I usually try not to think about what any given pig here has eaten when part of it is on my plate during the day here…but our pigs, I know EXACTLY what they eat. Nasty watery leftovers/stuff that went bad/old burnt rice from the bottom of the pot, ect. And we store it in a bucket until it’s time to carry it in a jug to the farm house to feed the pigs. Now this usually is an easy job, but we had a ton of relatives pass through the other day so there was way more “pig water” (as we call it) than usual. And since Don Jose is sick, there was no Donkey to carry the heavy load…just a Jenny (which as Wendy and Leslie pointed out to me our freshman year means a female donkey…so it’s totally fitting). So I carried this 8Kg jug full of…muck…for 40 minutes because we were walking in the mud to the farm house. Then it’s Cleo’s job to give it to the pigs, because I just don’t like the smell. Well she didn’t realize how heavy the jug was and splashed the both of us with the pig water in the process of feeding the pigs. So we are now covered from head to toe in yesterdays nastiness, and to make it worse, my mouth was open so I had pig water IN MY MOUTH. Yeah, that’s Mike Ross material. To put insult to injury, since we smelled like pig water, the flies thought we were a walking birthday present during the 40 minute walk back to the house…

Then the Dog ate one of the ducks, and just left another dead for me to find...



Then today (Jan 22) we were all prepared to make chick peas to go with our rice and chicken…the only problem, this pesky little bug that loves to eat grains had beaten us to the idea and had put tiny little holes in probably 2/3 of the peas we had. So rather than admitting defeat like Don Jose and I said, Cleo decides to boil them for a while, kill the bugs, and pick out the bad ones. Great plan on paper…needless to say I was picking around chick peas with insects popping out of them all during lunch and trying my damndest not to bust out laughing and let the lunch guest in on our little secret. I’ve never examined my food so close before eating. But somehow the Senor that eats with us managed not to see the sea of insects that he was eating…thank god. Ok so not very Mike Ross, but funny.

Then for a not so dirty, but still alittle Mike Ross-ish moment. Cleo and I were pealing garlic (like 6 heads of it) to mash and store in an open container by our open wood burning stove (I need to work on that). And apparently I suck at pealing garlic at a Peruvian Pace…I thought I was doing pretty good…for every 1 I pealed, she had finished about 10. There goes my ego.

Well for now I’m heading up to the other pasture (yeah we have a ton of them) to go and grab some Wan abanas(I spelled that wrong…but I don’t know any other way), I’m about 99% sure it’s a bread fruit in English. A big ol green blob that’s got little white pods with seeds in the middle. Kinda tastes like yogurt…but not really at the same time. It’s a complicated flavor, but its amazing, so I’m going to go brave the mud to grab a few before the rain comes in.

It's Like Christmas Day...on Jan 13th

Hey everybody so I know that I’ve posted a lot of blogs recently…but lets face it I think you all like to read them, so it’s ok. The reason that I’ve been fortunate enough to have this much access to internet is because the SERPOST people in customs hate me. I came into Chiclayo on Monday with every intention of being a good Peace Corps Volunteer and going back to my site the next day on the next bus…but the guy at customs didn’t like that plan. I waited in line for 4 hours to fight this guy to get the package that my Outdoor Leadership professors, Ted, Tommy, and Terry sent me, and the package that Liz and her boys that I babysat sent me. Now normally I’m sure it wouldn’t have been this much of a hassle to get the boxes…or so I’m going to tell myself…but since the Peace Corps has my official government issued passport, all I have is a copy and a letter saying that the Peace Corps has my passport. Well to the guy at customs that just wasn’t sufficient. Now in the states I would have just said, “Ok fine, I’ll come back when I have my real passport back in 2 months.” The problem is in Peru they only hold packages in customs for a month…and the deadline was creeping up on my packages before they were to be sent BACK to the United States. Yikes.

So after realizing that Customs’ man hates me, I sent to solicit help from my favorite lady who works at the front desk (the place where I go to get my mail that doesn’t go through customs—basically if it’s less than 2 lbs and isn’t in a box she gets it, otherwise it goes to evil customs man) to see if she had any ideas. Well my lady apparently is the boss (wo)man and was not happy that evil customs man was making life hard for her gringos (she loves us Peace Corps people because we share the candy we get sent with her…so thanks guys!). Boss lady turned into this dude’s mom in 3.5 seconds doing everything but grabbing him by the ear and spanking him. I’ll call it explaining, because that sounds more polite than fussing out, to evil customs man that I can only make it into Chiclayo ever so often, and that due to all this rain we’ve been getting I probably won’t be able to make it back for a very long time. And that I have given him an official document that states that my passport is in the hands of the government and they’re sorry for the trouble, but give me the damn package. Yeah! Way to go boss lady!

Needless to say after 4 hours of this, I made it out of SERPOST with 10 envelopes from (yes this is time to thank you all by name…think of it like the Oscars):
My mom (of course she’s my mom!)
Mr. and Mrs. Shelhorse
Liz Stankavage and her boys that I used to babysit (Liz I LOVE the pictures of the boys, they have gotten so big! And tell Brooks that he looks amazing in his glasses)
Mr. and Mrs. Pickett
Anna Myers
Kacie Ross and the RHS Field Hockey Team (haha ok I have to giggle, that sounds like a really funny band name)
Ted, Terry, and Tommy-my Outdoor Leadership Profs (with some super wicked cool gear as Terry says)

Thanks to everyone who sent me all the goodies, I’m pretty sure I’ve made about 5lbs of candy, 2lbs of beef jerky (yumm) and all sorts of cool random stuff (just how I like it--nice and random!)

But back to the story as to why I’m still in Chiclayo (sorry I got distracted by all the goodies). $ hours from when SERPOST opens just happens to be noon…the time that if I am taking the bus back to Nanchoc I should probably be on my way to the bus terminal…or there already if I want a seat that’s not infested with chicken poo…hey I live in the country, it’s how people transport them. So I was running back to my hostel with a bag full of goodies and 2 boxes, make it back by 12:15 realize that CRAP I haven’t packed any of my stuff yet and I still have way too much stuff to do on the internet to leave right now. So I called Emilia (my boss in Lima) and begged to stay longer to look for more things on the internet and to finish buying stuff for my room, and thankfully she agreed. I love this woman! She’s so understanding of when we volunteers have a problem and very good about helping us find/or use a solution to make our lives easier. So thanks to Emilia’s awesome-ness I have had more time in the internet to look up more plans for Improved wood burning stoves (cocinas mejoradas), wood burning ovens (people in my town really seem to want them, I know it’s not really part of my Health Program’s goals…but I’ll consider it a secondary project), a really cool website www.biology4kids.com and its counter websites www.physics4kids.com and I think there’s a geography, earth science, and other cool 4kids parts too. So I have realized talking to parents and kids in my site that their science classes are NOT like ours. I remember the science fairs in middle school (yeah I know all the parents reading this just shuttered from the memories…but thanks for helping us guys!) then I need to get going to look up some more latrine plans and some AIDS/HIV stuff in Spanish for my health center.

But I hope that you all have enjoyed the blogs and the pictures. And if any of you want a giggle. My group made a rap video on YouTube

Murphy’s Law of Sickness

So damn if Murphy didn’t know his shit... Just the other day I was talking with the nurse at my health center about how surprised I was that I hadn’t gotten really sick yet. Let’s face it with the chicken hanging from a hook for a day before we eat it, and the electricity coming and going I don’t even want to think about the fish and milk in the fridge, getting sick is bound to happen. But not 2 days after having this conversation with the nurse…that rumbling in my stomach started up and you know you’re in for a FUN fill adventure in potty land. Yes I am aware of the fact that that sounds like the name to a child’s potty training book…but trust me, it needs a happy name-- it’s no fun.

There is nothing like waking up at 3am and battling the lizards, spiders, and cats to make it to the restroom with…we’ll just call it issues. Now normally I’m a good Peace Corps Volunteer and I wait a day to see if it’ll pass before I take the magic pill (Ciprofloxacine) to make it all better…but people this time was BAD, so George and Suni (our doctors) I hope ya’ll can forgive me, but I was not willing to wait a day. So pop goes the magic pill and the waiting begins. This was a horrid day, Cipro and all. My host mom thought I was dying…for a while I too thought I was dying. Stomach cramps so bad I was crying, the aforementioned…issues…not being able to keep anything down. As we say here in Peru, it hit with FUERZA! (Force/Strength). Now I won’t go into details, God knows you all don’t want to hear it and I don’t want to remember it. But I am sure as HECK glad that I packed my Gatorade in my suitcase. A. there is nothing even remotely similar to Gatorade here in my town, and B. the electrolyte tablets in our first aid kit are gross. In addition I would like to thank myself for thinking in advance and purchasing saltines in Chiclayo when I was there last because “they always come in handy.” Damn I’m good sometimes.

And really when you’re sick the only thing you want to do is sleep and take care of the issues. But since its Christmas time (the 27th of Dec, aka sick day) my house is BUSTING with family, normally I’m cool with family, more people to talk to and more stories to hear. But when you’re sick that just means it’s that many more people to come in and ask “are you ok?” or in the case of the 2 ½ year old “are you dying?” I felt the love, but I just wanted to sleep. Peruvians also have some weird homemade remedies…and yes I got to try them all. So I have drunk a tea made from the peel of a pomegranate (we have a tree in my yard), tricked into drinking a shot of canazo (really gross shine made from sugar cane) mixed with sugar and who knows what, and had an egg passed over my body (yeah I don’t know, it apparently sucks up the bad stuff…). Fun times.

But enough with the sickness! The next day I went with the Health Center staff “fishing” at the river. Now when I think fishing I think of a rod or pole with a hook on the end, be it a spinner or a fly rod. Well fishing Peruvian style means hunting for crayfish! Haha so much fun! I had flashbacks to being 11 and searching for them in the creek near my house at Kitchener Ct. with Lauren Bilski. I took some pictures I’ll try to upload but the funniest moments went photo-less. Walter, the lab technician screaming like a little girl when the crayfish bit back, us deciding to follow Carlos’s “shortcut” which lead us 30 minutes out of the way in the backwoods of Peru (thank god the Gringa is a Boy Scout at heart and had her headlamp since the sun had set mid being lost), and then the “how to gut a crayfish” lesson that followed. I’m just sad that we were unable to cook up a chowder with the days catch (about a kilo…so 2.2lbs) because there is a pregnant woman in a nearby town currently giving birth across the street in the health center and all hands are on deck since the OB-GYN is out of town. Well almost all hands, since I know nothing about child-birthing I figured I would be of more help by not being around. And since I don’t know the woman, I’m sure she’s happy not having a stranger in the room.



Currently I am taking a break from making my very own crayfish catching net from the old mosquito net that Andrew left behind and typing up this blog. But I figure you all will be very proud to know that there is Duct Tape involved…because we all know that it’s required in any homemade device. Hopefully it works…I’ll keep you all updated.

Christmas--Nanchoc Style

Hey everyone!! It’s now 5 days until Christmas and I’m sure there are a ton of Christmas cookies being baked, eaten, and shared going on back at home (eat up, I haven’t had any Christmas cookies this year). I know that I won’t get to post this until after Christmas when I make it back to Chiclayo but I just wanted to say MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS/HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone back home! I miss ya’ll a ton! Take in the Christmas tree smell for me…there is no such thing as an evergreen where I am…unless a cactus counts…which in my mind it does not.

So Christmas Peruvian style:
Just like in the states, Peruvians eat turkey for Christmas…now in a place where there are grocery stores with a supply and demand market, you know that 95% of the time you’ll be able to find a turkey for the big day as long as you don’t procrastinate too much right? Well in Peru its home-grown turkeys, and this year, there apparently are not enough to go around. So it’s been really funny listening to people talk about the ways they’ve protected their turkeys (here in Peru you buy it still gobbling a few weeks before and fatten it up for Christmas day in your yard):
-Tie it to the tall part of the tree and put food up high so it doesn’t hurt itself trying to get down to eat. Ok so the rational here is that Peruvians are short and wouldn’t be able to climb this prickly tree without his ladder that is hidden…all of 3 meters from the tree by a towel. That and turkeys really do like to hang out in trees, happy bird, happy family.
-The turkey sleeps in the bedroom with the family. Ok so my inner health promoter is just cringing at this thought…we work so hard to keep the animals OUT of the houses…and their poop out of the houses. But this story is just funny enough that it might be ok to overlook the turkey poop in the kitchen. So this family ties the turkey to the bedpost at night. Rational: turkey thieves come at night…this is true.

But my family is lucky enough to be one of the ones that raise turkeys, so I know that my family will have a turkey. Why am I so certain that my family’s turkey won’t get yanked you might ask? Well she’s a crazy ass dog that’s tied up in front of our chicken/turkey house. So Don Jose (my Peruvian dad) either bought or was gifted a set of puppies, one is mentally challenged after an incident with a brick to the head…so obviously he’s not going to stop a turkey thief…it’s his twin sister that’s the devil in doggie form. Ok well she’s really not the devil-- she’s just ADHD like no other and is the most hyper thing I’ve ever seen in my life. So hyper in fact that she is tied to the tree in front of the chicken house all day every day. Now I have tried to walk by her without dying…it can’t be done, I have the scratch marks to prove it. So my family doesn’t have to worry about being turkey less this year. In addition, I think we have around 10 turkeys that we are safe guarding for family friends (let’s face it the devil-dog watch system is bullet proof…ok bad choice of words…). But I was doing some calculations the other day. Dona Julia, my host mom said that turkeys are going for S./12 a kilo…that’s roughly S./24 a pound, which is like $8 a pound…now I don’t remember how much a turkey costs in the states, but I sure as heck know that we’ve never paid that much for a turkey…I don’t think.

But in addition to turkey, Peruvians do Paneton…Now Paneton is like fruit cake. Ok you can all stop making that gross face. I said it’s LIKE fruit cake, not that it is. This stuff is actually pretty good. Like all other made-in-Peru things, when I first tried it…I kinda wanted to throw up in my mouth just a little…but now, I LOVE IT. So it’s this big muffin looking piece of bread (like 7” in diameter, and a foot tall) with little candied fruit in it…but the Paneton I had last night at the health promoters Christmas party had…dun, dun, dun, CHOCOLATE!!! It was amazing. So in the states, Christmas supper is turkey, dressing (or stuffing for my Yankee friends), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes in some form (or maybe that’s just a southern thing too), green veggies, bread, gravy. Here it’s Paneton and turkey with hot coco. Yeah my stomach was a little disappointed, but its good food, and here it’s expensive food. So Peruvian’s bust out the good stuff on Christmas day.

I was fortunate enough to be gifted a Paneton and a can of milk (yeah it comes in cans, old school huh?) by the health post (Cajamarca RED, aka the boss man, gifted Panetons and Milk to all the health centers/posts in their RED…oh yeah a RED is a network). So my family and I are either going to enjoy it for Christmas supper, or for the going away party of Cleo, my house mate. She’s a teacher at the local school, so she’s only here for the school year (in Peru it’s from April to December), so we might throw her a little party…not sure yet.

The health center also had a party (so I’ve had a lot of Paneton, turkey, and duck…we had duck at this party) where we played Secret Santa (Amigo Secreto). Now since I believe that I am a boy scout at heart (always prepared) I happened to have…are you ready…2 Christmas presents with me when I came to my sight for just such circumstances. God I’m good sometimes…haha. So I did my best ghetto-wrapping job I could (because I didn’t know that you buy wrapping paper in Peru in single serving pieces and I didn’t want a whole roll…rolls are not done here in Peru. But I took an envelope that my mom had sent me some leaves in that was the nice and thick paper but not quite cardboard material, unfolded it, reversed it so it was brown side out, and decorated paper (computer paper size) in red, white, and green, and taped it to the front. People laughed at the Gringo and asked if that’s how we wrap presents in the States…because apparently the guy before me here in Nanchoc did something similar.


Well I’m going to cut this blog here, figuring that I’ll write another one before my trip to Chiclayo. But Happy Holidays everyone! Love you all, Miss you all!

and here's the Turkey that we...sacrificed...for christmas...enjoy :)

First Week in Site!!

So I’ve finished up my 9th day in site and came back to Chiclayo to buy a few things I needed for my room and to pick up the box of books that the Peace Corps sent to us via a bus line. Its kinda weird being in such a fast paced city again, I like campo life’s slow pace. But my last week or so in site have been great. I haven’t “officially” started working yet, the Peace Corps likes us to do a community diagnostic during our first 3 months to figure out what would benefit our communities the most before we start up working. That being said my first few days were really nothing other than getting to know everyone at the Nanchoc Health Center and watching the Parade. No—they didn’t have a parade just for me, I know you’re all disappointed. But they did have their towns 50th political anniversary on my first full day in site, so it was really awesome to see the town all decked out in white and gold balloons. The kids from Nanchoc and the surrounding districts had a competition for the best portion of the parade. Nanchoc won with typical dances and dress of various parts of Peru—Afican dancing from Ica, typical Selva dancing, a dance I’m not sure where it’s from but it’s representative of war and has bells on the dancer’s legs, and the prize of the bunch, the Marinara! The Marinara is a courtship dance that is very popular in Peru in the northern part of Peru. After the parade there were the introductory speeches of all the honored guest, the current and former Mayors of Nanchoc, the surrounding areas, directors of the schools, and so on. I lucked out and didn’t have to give a speech my first day there because my arrival was sort of a surprise. Due to a combination of our cell phones not working right in the first few days, and Nanchoc’s phone having issues, I wasn’t able to call ahead to warn them I was on my way…Supresa!



But also on the Anniversary of Nanchoc (Dec 2) we had a seminar at the Health Center for doctors, nurses, OB/GYNs and heath promoters from surrounding areas about HIV/AIDS testing and methods of teaching prevention to coincide with World AIDS Day. So it was nice to get to meet some of the heath workers from surrounding areas. The day of the Parade was also the first taste of hot truly hot it does get in my site. Now I talked to a few people about the heat and my site and it was a huge surprise to find out that Peru isn’t all mountains and cold. So I’ll give the breakdown. Along the coast is desert, but with a breeze from the ocean usually so the temperatures are a little cooler, but still hot. Then you have the in between coast and mountain regions that can be broken into a few parts: Rain Forests, just like it sounds, green, rainy, and cooler, then the Dry Forest, where I am—and it’s just like it sounds, dry and dusty and hot, until the rainy season, then it gets hotter and rainy and green. The next section is the mountains (the Sierra) and this is the section that most people think of when they think about Peru, but it too has variations. There is Jungle like mountain sections and more “typical” Peru sections. Then on the other side of the mountains is the jungle (the Selva) and its just that, jungle. So at my site “hot” right now is 95 F in the shade with not much of a breeze during the afternoons. But I’m told in a month that I’ll be begging for that temperature back, because it gets up to 115 at my site WHEN it’s raining. Wooo!

So with the hot weather comes the rainy season. And in my site, when it rains, it POURS. So it sounds like starting in January and ending in around March it’s going to get harder and harder to leave my site due to wash outs in the road and mainly due to the height of the river that intersects the only road to and from my town. So I’m not sure how much you all will be hearing from me over the next few months…but this is just a warning that most likely I haven’t died, I’m just on the other side of the river chilling in my site working on some health stuff.

Speaking of health stuff, I’ve had a few meetings with various interested town bodies (the teachers, the doctors/health staff, the mayor, and coming up soon the health promoters) about what changes they would like to see in their community and what has worked well in the past. I am always amazed at how much they have actually already done in my site. My community partner (the person the Peace Corps set me up to work with) is a nurse and she is really into learning the most she can about Community Health Promotion. She has been going to monthly seminars in the capital of Cajamarca, Cajamarca City, to learn more about the problems in our region (well the health concerns). Where I come in is helping think up FUN ways to teach these things. In Peru the education system is rote memorization, so most people don’t know how to do much more than give lectures and hope like hell that they stick…so this is where the Peace Corps Volunteer and their non-formal education techniques come in!! But some ideas we have come up with so far are:

Community Gardens/Home Gardens: Now I know what you’re thinking, “Jenny you live in farm land, how would the need gardens if they’re already growing stuff?” Good question! Turns out they are growing food, it’s just not food that has a very high nutritional value for the most part. There is a lot of Yuca (think a stringy potato…but tasty, at least when my host mom cooks it), potatoes, corn (but more feed corn that eating corn), and Tobacco—and you don’t eat that. There are a few people who grow cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, and other veggies, but they sell most of them. My typical meal might have 5 peas in it and a few slices of tomato, the rest is rice, beans, and potato or yucca—it’s really filling, but lacking a lot of vitamins. So if we can get everyone to grow a few plants that have more nutritional value, then we can add to their diets and benefit everyone—they don’t have to pay for the produce, and they are more healthy.

Cocinas Mejoradas (Improved Stoves): A lot of Peruvians in the campo cook with wood. And usually its an open grate inside the house (or in a enclose space near the house) where they do the cooking, therefore the smoke is EVERYWHERE. The walls are black, the bricks are covered with suit…along with the inside of the lungs of anyone living in the house. So and Improved stove traps the smoke inside a tunnel and sends it outside the house through a chimney—they actually use less wood and burn hotter too, so it saves money and time. Win Win.

Youth Work: Teen pregnancy, lack of self esteem, lack of creativity, and lack of individuality are all issues in my site—I would like to point out that I did notice this in my trips to the school, but it was mentioned as a project from me by the teachers and doctors. So I will most likely be doing self esteem and individuality workshops with students and start up a youth group or as the mayor suggested, a girls soccer league!

Those are just a few ideas that we have come up with, I’m sure there will be more to come. So I’m in Chiclayo for the day to buy things for my room such as sheets, pillow, shampoo, hangy closet organizer thing that will function as my dresser. Just the necessities. I also splurged and bought a new shirt at the Peruvian equivalent of a Walmart, it was cute, and of a really really light fabric so I can survive the hot days of Nanchoc. Speaking of doing the necessary tasks, I really should get going to the post office to pick up the packages that people have sent (thanks Kacie, Mom, and Josh!) and to the grocery store to get some pecans and milk (in a can) so I can make sweet potato casserole for my family and co-corkers. Bye guys!

It's Official We're Peace Corps Volunteers...and We Have Cell Phones To Prove It

Ok guys, sorry that I haven’t written one of these in forever and a half. Life finishing up training has just been crazy as heck! Since I’m writing this away from the internet I’m not even sure where my last blog left off so I’ll just pick up at my site visit. My town is called Nanchoc, Cajamarca—if you’re going to try to Google it, don’t, it’s not there (well not much about it). So I’ll try to fill everyone in on the happenings. Nanchoc is a small district capital of 350 people on a busy day that is surrounded by 7 surroundings neighborhoods with a total population that’s still less than 1000 people ( or so I’m told…in 3 months I’ll be able to tell you the exact numbers I hope). But my house is AMAZING! I love it, and I’m about 99% sure that I have the nicest, or at least in the top 10, bathroom in the Peace Corps. I have tile, AND, get this, a shower curtain. Ok so the shower curtain doesn’t sound like an extraordinary feet, but there for some reason seems to be a lack of shower curtains in this country…assuming that you have a shower. But my house is rather large for a house in the campo, it has 2 kitchens (one wood burning stove outside and one gas stove inside), 2 living rooms (one from the older portion of the house and one newer one that they just built in the back of the house), 4 bedrooms, but one’s used more for storage, and the best part…a cuy room. Yes, you read that correctly, we have a whole room that’s dedicated to guinea pigs. I think there was around 30 of them in there…not sure of the exact numbers yet.
My host mom and dad are really nice; their names are Julia and Jose. My mom runs a Pension out of the house, which is basically means that she cooks meals for the teachers and doctors in the area. And my dad is a farmer--we have a ton of land and animals. I think I’ve counted 6 cows, 10 goats or sheep (ok so you laugh that I can’t tell the difference…and well Wendy is crying. But these are the weirdest looking animals I’ve ever seen…I think they’re a new species or something.), 15 turkeys, lord knows how many chickens, 5 pigs, 2 donkeys, 2 horses, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. And hopefully when I return the cute, adorable puppy that I found at the barn will still be there and I can claim him as my own…but that’s a big assumption I probably shouldn’t make.
My house is located right across the street from the health center, which is great since I will be working so closely with them over the next 2 years, and the school (the only school in the whole district) is right down the street. Everyone seems really excited to be working with me and really happy to have another volunteer in their site. I’m replacing a guy from…get this…Raleigh, NC—so basically they think everyone in the Peace Corps is from North Carolina now, which is weird, but my house is decorated with the pictures from a NC calendar, so it’s like being at home…sorta. My first night in Nanchoc we had a meeting with all of the health promoters, doctors, nurses, and teachers to discuss what they would like to see from me as far as work projects are concerned over the next 2 years. They want a lot of work with youth, which I am super excited about, and in the areas further away from town they still need improved stoves and latrines, then there is the obvious working with the health promoters and keeping them up to date on information and the like.
So since I can’t really think of any other interesting site descriptions right now I’m going to switch topics and talk about graduating!!! Ok so it’s not really graduating, it’s just officially becoming a volunteer…that’s right as of yesterday, the 28th of November we are all officially Peace Corps Volunteers! We had a really nice ceremony in the back yard at the training center with a tent decked out in red white and blue with the Peruvian flag, the Peace Corps flag, and the American flag in the center. Douglas, a member of my health group and all around bad ass for his songs and guitar skills during Spanish presentations among other skills, managed to give an amazing speech IN Spanish while being deathly ill. He somehow made it through the hour long ceremony without puking then had to retreat to the bathroom to pass some time. Poor guy, but he did an amazing job, so KUDOS Douggie!!!!
Oh I forgot to mention before the ceremony we all had to bring all of our luggage to the center so we could take it with us to Lima that night. Ok so 47 people, with 2 to 4 bags each = a shit ton of luggage. We somehow managed to carry it all on to the buses that picked us up from the training center and took us to Lima. Once in Lima we quite literally put our bags down in our hostel and ran for supper/to celebrate with our fellow PCVs. Brian and I ate at a pretty good restaurant in Parque Kennedy, I had the best Lasagna ever…ok that’s a lie, but since I haven’t seen real mozzarella since I left America, it was amazing. (sorry I realize I’m using the word amazing a lot…but it’s just fitting and I’m too lazy to think up another word) Then after supper we met up with the rest of the group in Barranco at a bar/discoteca and left around 4 in the morning (and for Peruvians that’s early…they usually stay out till the sun comes up).
Then my plans for today were to go see my host family from the last time I was in Peru, but when I got to their house they were on the way out the door to a lunch, so I talked for about 5 minutes then they had to go. Maybe I’ll catch them the next time I’m in Lima. So right Now I’m sitting on the end of the bed listening to Brian snore, and waiting for Sarah to fall off the bed because she’s only half on due to luggage, typing up this blog. I guess at some point I’ll wake them up so we can go grab some lunch…or quite possibly join in with the nap fest. My bus for Chiclayo leaves at 8:30pm and I should be arriving there around 9am tomorrow. Then pass the day in Chiclayo and head to Nanchoc Monday afternoon (it would be Monday morning, but the only bus leaves at 1.)

So until next time: love you all! Miss you all! Stay safe.

FBT

So I’ve been trying to figure out how I can write a blog that sums up my Field Based Training experience without being so incredibly long that you all fall asleep while reading it. Now do not get me wrong, FBT was not boring, the complete opposite, it’s just I never thought that so much could be crammed into a week…so I’m just going to give this a shot:
You might ask, how does one travel from Lima, the capital of Peru to the province of Piura (which if any of you have seen a map of Peru you know that Piura is freaking far away from Lima)? Well in a Bus Cama of course! So for the Spanish-disinclined, bus cama literally translates into Bed Bus. And its just that, a really nice bus with seats that recline back to nearly a bed. Now I’m not sure if I’m just too tall for these busses (well any gringo for that matter) or if I just can’t sleep on busses—both are very well possible. But I just wasn’t able to get much sleep on my 14 hour bus ride (during the night) to La Cuidad de Piura. But I will give Bus Camas this one thing: not once did my butt fall asleep, so that goodness for that! After our 14 hours in a bus (with a dinner and breakfast that were actually eatable) we hopped in some taxis and began the second phase of the Piura adventure: the 4 hour ride in a taxi that is older than we are!! Never-the-less, our beat up yellow itty-bitty taxi somehow made it to Jilili (the city I spent 3 days in for FBT). Jilili is the site of a Peru-10 volunteer (I’m a Peru 12, so that means he’s been in site for a year just to fill you in on Peace Corps lingo…its confusing I know) named Brian. His site was just beautiful. It was a mix of sierra and selva (mountains and jungle), it had the tall steep, winding mountain views combined with mango trees, banana trees, and sugar cane. Brian spends most of his time working with the JASS program, which is a committee that monitors the collection, treatment, and distribution of water and the management of sewage…he’s still got a ways to go with the treatment part…let’s just say us trainees were advised to brush our teeth with bottled water…yumm. But Brian is doing a great job so far just keeping the ball rolling with his projects, and finishing up the projects of the previous volunteer at his site (she worked with latrines and there is still a lot of follow up he has to do with those).
While in Jilili we took a tour of the heath center, saw some HOLSTIENS (wendy I know you’re proud!!!), worked with some latrines, and community garden/compost projects, gave a few education sessions of the importance of communication to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grados (aka 13-16 year olds), and attempted to make a radio spot but was forced to abandon that due the rain. Rain on a calaminia roof (aka tin roof) is really loud and makes it IMPOSSIBLE to record a skit for the radio on a computer…trust us we tried. But that just about sums up my 3 days in Jilili to the best of my cliffs note abilities. So onward to Potrerillo!
From Jilili we ran, quite literally, to the combi as it was pulling away from the town center with all of our things yelling “WAIT!!!!!” The bus did wait, we were able to get our seats between a woman with a rooster and a man with a typical hat of Piura on (think reeeealy wide brimmed cowboy hat-10 gallon style). After a 3 hour bus ride and a 2n hour taxi ride we were at our next site, Portrerillo. AND small worlds of small worlds the volunteer, Lizzi, is from DURHAM!!! Turns out we lived all of 20 minutes from each other, she went to Durham Academy (I know, but we like her anyways)! It was so cool to be able to “talk shop” with a fellow Durham-ite. She was asking about all the good places (Elmo’s, Cosmic, Fosters, Mad Hatters, so on) AND we realized that we have a few common friends (Lindsey and Jeffery Spears mom cause I know you’re wondering…). It’s just such a small world.
But Portrerillo is way different that Jilili, it’s located in a valley called Chipillico and is soooo pretty. There are rice fields as far as the eye can see at times surrounded by beautiful mountains, banana trees, more mango trees, and all the chickens, cows, and pigs your heart could desire. (PS Wendy tell me what type of cow has a huge hump on its back and some hair business going on its belly…cause that’s all they have there). But the sun here was fierce! I’m talking Eric got a sunburn from the part of the sun that was shining through the window on his leg in the car ride to the site…wow. But Lizzi has the coolest project I think I’ve seen yet, she is finishing it up now (just in time to end her service in late November), she has worked with an NGO called Plan International and brought her community and the surrounding communities the coolest gift ever—FLUSHABLE LATRINES!!!! Ok so Ya’ll probably aren’t as excited as I am about this…but you don’t have to poop in a hole…so I don’t expect much animation. But the way these things work: Plan International and her worked together to supply the communities with the necessary supplies, bricks, metal doors, TOLIETS, PVC tubing, cement, and skilled workers. And the communities in return provided the man power, the adobe bricks for the walls of the bathroom, and the will and want to work to better their community. So here’s the Basic Run down: You’ve got a normal toilet, all white and shiny and just asking to get used, that you put on a cement base, get this INSIDE of your house, and connect the toilet to a “septic tank” with a PVC tube. The “septic tank” is a hole in the ground with a wall of bricks with spaces in between them, you then fill in the bottom of the tank and the sides of the hole (between the dirt and brick) with a mixture of sand and larger rocks. Top off the “tank” with some cement and a ventilation tube, and you’re DONE! How this works: you walk to the canal (irrigation/water source for everyone usually really close to the house) grab a bucket of water, go to the bathroom, do you’re thing, pour the water in the toilet and TADA it flushes. The water travels in the tube and is filtered through the sand and rock and the clean water goes into the surrounding earth, while the nastiness is kept in the tank. And just when you think it can’t get better…oh it does: Potrerillo is supposed to be getting a RED Sistema de Agua (aka a water system, with pipes that bring water to the house, and remove sewage and used water from the house) so the community will be able to use their pre-existing bathrooms with the new system…they’re moving on up in the world!
We didn’t just so only latrines, we also saw the construction of an improved stove (one that uses less wood but gets way hotter for cooking) and gave s few education sessions on AIDS/HIV to a the local high school. Now I get to the fun part of Field Based Training: The Prank…
So, Rebecca (my DC Roomie) happened to have a birthday during FBT, Nov 1 to be exact. And Lizzie and my instructor had decided before FBT that a birthday party of sorts was needed in a bad way to celebrate. Sooo with a little planning and some kick ass acting if the rest of my group does say so, we had a plan in order. Here’s how it went down: Friday morning as we were waiting for a few people in the school yard before our HIV/AIDS talk (Rebecca being one of them) George (the instructor) laid out the plan. “We’re going back to Piura City for Rebecca’s birthday. But we want to surprise her, so she can’t know. I will say something later and just play along with it.” And the scene is set.
We made it through the class, the concert after the class, and lunch before the plan started to come together. Gorge spent A LOT of time on the phone, which made Rebecca worried, being the natural observer that she is. Then as we were about half way through with our stove George called Lizzie out of the room for a second and then he left. Lizzie walked back in and said, “OK guys, something’s happened. We need to thank the workers and the family and get back to the hostal for a meeting with Gorge.” So we all thanked everyone and started walking back. Once we arrived in the hostal George had a talk with us and told us that Michael Hirsh (the Country Director of Peace Corps Peru) was in Piura City and needed to have a talk with us, so pack up all of your things and get ready, the taxi will be here in 20 minutes. We all thought this was a great plan…but we didn’t know the effect it would have on Rebecca…the poor girl naturally assumed the worst: A Peace Corps Volunteer had died, a family member of someone in the group had died, and the list just goes on. So we did our best to be upbeat about our fake meeting with Michael. We all got our stuff together, hopped in our 2 taxis and were back in Piura City in a little over an hour and a half.
Now here’s where our “painless surprise birthday party” started to run into a few kinks. I forgot to mention that Rebecca was sick…well most of our group was sick in some form or another (Sick of taxis, sick in the stomach, nice and gaseous, something like that). Well when we showed up in Piura City…the hostal we were supposed to be staying at was closed. They had forgotten to write a receipt for a customer and the government had shut them down for 3 days (tough love, I know). So we walked around for an hour finding another hostal (we weren’t quitting till we found one with hot water!) and finally got one for a reasonable rate. George announced that we’d all meet back in the lobby in 30 minutes after everyone had the chance to shower, then we’d go and meet Michael at a local eatery for the meeting. Rebecca just couldn’t understand why we needed to shower to go meet with Michael, he was used to smelly PCVs--she was sick and just wanted to go to bed. Reluctantly she showered then we all went to the “meeting.” Lizzie and Gorge had already planned with Cappuccinos (the local PCV hangout) to have a table for 8 ready (there were 7 of us) so as we walked in there was our table…and by shear coincidence the table right beside us was another group of Peru 12 from the environment group…well that added a little more reality to our prank. So we went to their table before Rebecca and did the “so you’re here to meet with Michael too?” wink, wink, nudge, nudge move. That poor group was so confused, but we managed to get Rebecca away before they ruined our hard work. We sat down, acted anxious about meeting with Michael, and then the waiter brought wine. Rebecca said, “Why the heck is Michael Hirsh buying us wine??” Then George decided to break the news in form of a toast: “Rebecca, I just want to say on behalf of the group that we’re sorry but we played a trick on you…Michael Hirsh is not coming, this was a trick to get you here. Happy Birthday…did I mention we’re sorry?” Speechless, Rebecca sat and pondered the day’s events for a second and said, “wait…Hirsh isn’t coming? What? Ummm…”
Yes I’m pretty sure the lying made us bad people…but the food was worth it! Oh yeah, I left out one little part of the story. The electricity was out, so when we walked in everything was candle-lit and looked like a place you’d go on a date…that also confused her. And seeing as how the electricity was out they were only able to prepare half of the menu. So we all had salads and the BIGGEST brownie and ice cream we’d ever seen. The End.
Thanks everyone if you made it through the end of this blog, I know it was long…but it did sum up a while week! Take care!