Full Circle

What’s been going on in my life lately? Well, in between thinking about my trip home to the states and all the food I’m going eat, I manage to continue some sort of life here. Things have been pretty low key since Halloween. We are getting 4 new volunteers in Ancash this weekend. So they came for site visit this last week. It’s weird to think I was in their shoes one year ago and I’ve come full circle now helping and comforting the new kids into this big life change of moving to the campo of Ancash. The three new environment volunteers showed up on Sunday morning and we took them rock climbing/bouldering, not a bad first day in the region. Then we had 3 days of training on Monday thru Wednesday where we visited several of the organizations that we work with here in our region. It was a fun week and the new volunteers exceed my expectations on being cool.

As for site, I’ve been wrapping up my self-esteem classes. We have the final class/party where I’ll hand out their folders and certificates scheduled for the first week in December. Also, we’ve been planning our school anniversary, which is one of the biggest celebrations in my site, for next week. I finished drawing my world map, now I only have to paint it, which will happen eventually. I promise. I also made chicken pad thai this week in my site. Probably the most complicated thing I've made so far and it turned out pretty good. The rain has officially begun (baah), which only makes me more excited for my trip to Lima tonight. I am going to work on the environmental newsletter for the volunteers with my friend Brad. The Health volunteers from my group will also be in town for their medical checks so I’m going to get to see a lot of friends from training, some which I haven’t seen since March.

One month from today and I’ll be landing at KCI, eating a giant, delicious lunch with mom and dad, and then heading to CoMO for a night out with Joe. Mmmmmmm, so exciting.

Well, thanks for reading.
James

Arrrrrrrrrr...Die Hippy Die!

Halloween was LEGEN...wait for it...DARY!!!!!

But before we get to that night, I'll share about the 3 days of training that I hosted in my site. So I had 3 groups of about 7 volunteers come each day to learn about tree nurseries and tree planting. On Thursday my boss, Diego, came with the first group and a forestry engineer that works in my site and his boss were both there to explain about the process of working with reforestation projects in rural communities as well as a tree planting demonstration. It was all going fine until the engineer dug the first tree hole near my health post. Oops, he busted through a water pipe and water starting gushing out and flooding the area. It took awhile for us to locate the guy in charge of the water system in Pashpa because he was out in the fields, but finally he came to shut the water off and fix it. So thanks to us, my town was without water for a few hours, but that is pretty normal where I live. Other than that, the rest of the training went really well and I recruited some of the trainees to help draw my pirate tattoos and braid beads into my hair and beard for the big night.

So Halloween was everything I imagined and more. Nearly everyone dressed up in the Pirate theme, we had a mermaid, parrot, narwhal, treasure chest, boat, dead pirate, and the booty. We had halloween candy, halloween punch, plus a lot of pirate themed music to enhance the evening. At our favorite bar, they announced that my friend Shannon (the mermaid) and I won the costume contest so we got free drinks all night. Also my friend, Jane, who I met at Mizzou and is volunteering in Peru, came to visit with her other friend and their 2 Peruvian boyfriends. They dressed up as the Flinstones and I had a great time with them as well.

The next day was a little rough but I managed to shave and Monday I got a hair cut, therefore killing the image of a dirty hippy. I still dont recognize myself in the mirror, but I feel a lot cleaner and lighter. You can check out the pics of Halloween and the extreme makeover here.

Now I'm heading back to site. I have class the next two days and then next week we are having training for just the new volunteers that will be coming to live in Anca$h.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I saw the Yankee's double base steal online yesterday...can anyone tell me where the shortstop was?

Only 6 more weeks until I home for Christmas!

James

One year to go!

So in one year from now, I'll be packing up my stuff....more like throwing away all my stuff because its fallen apart after 2 years of brutal use, and moving out of my little adobe room to finish my Peace Corps service and somehow try to restart a somewhat normal life. This first year has gone by fast and they all say the second year goes even faster. And with a trip home and visit from both friends and family, I'm sure it will.

Its been frustrating lately because everything I own seems to be falling apart. I don't have a pair of jeans that doesn't have at least 3 holes in them, my headphones broke, my wallet broke...Peru and the Peace Corps has been tough on my things and I've had to lay out some cash to replace things but I guess thats just life. What are you going to do?

This last weekend was Homecoming at Mizzou and other than the loss to Texas, I've heard it was a great time. A big Congrats to my bro Joe and the Ag Rho house for winning the whole thing. Wish I could have been there to see it all.

I've been really busy lining up things for the PC trainees that are visiting my site later this week. This last week I got 50 tree seedlings donated from the Ministry of Agriculture that the trainees are going to plant in my site to accompany the training on tree nurseries. Also, I've helped organized their food, their lodging, training activities, and on top of this I have to come straight from this training to the big Halloween party that I've been preparing so long for...Yes, nine months ago I decided to be a pirate and for the last 7 months I have only trimmed my hair and beard once so as to capture the true image of a dirty scallywag pirate. But I'll finally get to shave and cut my hair on Sunday. Don't worry, I'm going to document this Extreme Makeover with pictures...before scruffy Hippie, then dirty Pirate, and after hopefully back to normal James. We'll see how it goes.

Arrrrrrr, Shiver me timbers, matey...only 5 days 'til Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone!

Scurvy Tvrdy (me pirate name, arrrr!)

Misky Mishi (Tasty Cat)

So the last week or so I've been celebrating my 24 years on this earth in a very fun and interesting way. I first was able to watch the Mizzou-Nebraska game on real ESPN which was incredible except for the Tigers loss. It was weird to see American commercials for the first time in 13 months. At the bar I was at, I met a guy from Louisville, NE (the small town where near where my grandparents live) who is a med student working in Peru for a year. Small world but it was fun to talk to a fellow Nebraskan.

Then over the weekend, a bunch of my friends that live in my region went to the valley of Conchucos where my friend Shannon and Claudia live. Conchucos is the valley on the other side of all the snow-capped mountains, a little farther from civilization but it is beautiful. Our first stop was in Huari for the Festival of Cats where they supposedly have BBQ Cat. We searched all afternoon for this tasty little treat but were unable to find it. It may just be a big Peruvian rumor, but the fountain in the plaza has cat statues so we settled for pictures with that. Then we went to my friend Shannon's site for dinner and a birthday cake that she made. It even had FunFetti Frosting on it that my mom had sent me down. We devoured the cake in minutes. Then that night we went to a cumbia concert for her town's festival. On Sunday, we went to Chavin to these famous ruins that were quite impressive. There were underground labyrinths and caves to explore.

Then the last two days I spent in Lima because I had to give a presentation to the new group of trainees. It was nice to get out of the mountains for a few days and eat some Pizza Hut. I got to stay the night with my old host family from training and I went to another concert with my host brothers and the new trainees which was a good time. Now I'm back to Ancash and preparing to head back to site. I have 3 groups of 9 trainees visiting my site for 3 days at the end of October so I have lots of stuff to plan for that.

Here's some pics of the B-day celebration. Yes I realize the beard is out of control and I may look like the uni-bomber, but only 3 weeks and it will finally be gone. Hope all is well stateside!

B-day Pics

Thanks for reading,

James

September....blah.

Will this month never end? Geez, it seems to have drug on and on but I guess that’s because I’ve been in my site for the most part and have so much to look forward to in the next three months. Not too much to report from site. I’m still teaching the self-esteem workshop. I did an activity with the kids about their eyes. First they had to draw their nawi kuna (eyes in quechua) and then write down the most interesting thing they have ever seen. Some kids wanted to write cerdos (pigs) or other common things but I’m trying to get them to think out of the box. One cute little girl that actually comes up with her own answers surprised me when she wrote that she saw ‘dancing colored water’. I asked her where she saw this dancing colored water and she told me that she saw it in Lima. Now in Lima, there is this big park full of water fountains that have different colored lights illuminating them at night. I told her that those things she saw were called fountains…amazing really. It helped me realize that this activity is in fact helping at least some to be creative and think for themselves which is my main goal.

This week at the school, we celebrated “Dia de la Juventud” or Youth Day. Apparently if you are not married you are still considered youth so yea! for me. The teachers organized a lunch for the kids on Thursday and then on Friday we took a fieldtrip to Honkopampa which is where the ruins and the waterfalls are located that I have mentioned before. It was a different experience going with the professors and students but still very fun.

Now I only have a few days of this wretched month left and then a very busy October and November which will pass the time before I come home for Christmas!!! Which, by the way, is less than 3 months from now. I think about it constantly, rather pathetic, but it helps me to know that I will be visiting the land of happy hour, buffalo wings, burgers, Mexican food, piano bars, free water, attractive people, good beer, bourbon, and all my family and friends soon enough. Yeah, I kind of miss America…oh well.

This last Saturday, I took part in some bouldering (a type of rock climbing) with some of the other volunteers/gringos in Huaraz. I had never been before but it was really fun and challenging. I was gifted an old pair of climbing shoes so I think I might try getting into it more. I better take advantage of living in these mountains as long as I am here.

Thanks for reading and here are some recent photos! (click here)

James

One Year Down!

Last year at this time I was arriving in Peru very late at night after hours of sitting in the DC airport waiting for our plane to take off. I had a very weird feeling as we drove through what appeared to be the ghetto of Lima and thinking to myself ¨Really? I´m going to live here for two years? What am I doing???¨ But now a year has passed and it has flown by. We celebrated this weekend by making tacos, playing beerpong, and jell-o shots. Fall is a hard time for me as far as homesickness goes. Just thinking about the fact that college football season and tailgating are starting makes me sad. But the thought of coming home to the states in 3 months is getting me through. Also, everyone says the second year goes even faster so before I know it I´ll be preparing to come back to life in America. I´ll have to practice manners, social awareness, and I´ll have to start showering again....damn hygeine. Well heres the pics I promised. Hope all is well at home!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407646&id=15904742&l=1cabd48402

Thanks,
James

Let the work begin...

So after all the traveling, I´m getting settled back into the tranquility that is Peace Corps life. The weather has been good for the most part but rainstorms are starting to sneak over the mountains in the late afternoons, but we have had little rain so far. It only serves as a little reminder of the soaking hell that will take over my life after the new year.

This time of the year in Pashpa everyone is harvesting wheat. The process takes an entire day and includes having horses run over the wheat, then using pitchforks (which are really just branches of trees) they throw the hay up over and over to let the straw fly out and leave the wheat pieces on the ground, and then using pine tree branches they sweep off what they can leaving a pile of wheat. They work a field for several months, spend a day cutting the hay by hand and then spend an entire day harvesting the wheat for one to two sacks of wheat. I don´t know if its depressing or enlightening because they get so little for all their hard work, but I guess it makes me appreciate good old John Deere.

I´ve had a few productive weeks in site as far as work goes, but I´m not going to say I´m a completely successful volunteer because this country is known for unexpected turns and the destruction of dreams...a little drastic but I just hope the work I have set out in front of me for the next couple months goes as planned. This last week I started teaching a 10 week self-esteem charla to the 4th and 5th graders of the primary school. One of the biggest problems with the education system in Peru is that the children don´t learn to think for themselves. Class usually involves taking perfect notes of whatever the teacher writes on the board. So when I have English club with the kids and I asked them to do anything, over half of the kids will write exactly the example that I gave to them. For this reason, I feel that the self-esteem workshop is a very important activity because it gives them a chance to think of themselves as individuals and helps them to think on their own since most of the work we do will come from their thoughts and feelings.

I also have painted a blue square on the wall at my school on which I will paint a world map. However, it will not be a normal political map but a physical map showing the Earth´s mountains, deserts, forests, and plains. I have no guide to help me with this so I´m interested to see how it turns out, but you´ll see the pics when its done.

Today I went to a training session with all the teachers from my school on project called Escuelas Saludables or Healthy Schools. So we are going to start implementing this project which includes hand washing, waste management, hygeine, self-esteem, and sexual education. I have been put in charge of teaching the waste management section which I will have to present to every classroom in the next three weeks. I have also started an Environment Club on Tuesdays and a Sports Club on Thursday to complement English Club on Wednesdays. So now my weeks are pretty full in site and I´m still looking into doing an improved stoves projects with one of my town´s annexes. Things seem to be going well now, but if its one thing you can expect from the Peace Corps is anything goes. So I´m excited for the promise of work and look forward to achieving these goals before I come home for Christmas.

Well, thats what I´ve been up to. Please shoot me an email and let me know how you all are doing.

Thanks for reading....Cuidense!
James