So I know I told a few of you I'd be somewhere unprounciable, but it turns out that the health group got sent there and Water sanitation and Environment are at Santa Eulalia which is gorgeous. I was very very lucky in that I got assigned to a host family that is actually down the street from the Center where we train from 8am to 5pm. So that means I don't have to try to brave the combis just yet. There are about 5 others that leave around me as well. I have my own room, although it is next to the bathroom and I am a light sleeper, I love my room. The bed is great, and we're literally 20 meters from the river, Rio de Santa Eulalia, which acts as a great white noise (in place of a fan). Between our house and the river, we have a nice grassy area where they keep the rooster, hen and chicks. There's also a little round pool (piscina) right there, which I haven't gotten a chance to use yet but looks really nice. There's a futbol field thats pavement, but has a fence around and bleachers. I wanted to play yesterday, but the local police were playing a game until dinner so I went home (three houses away haha). Between the futbol field and my home is a discoteco owned by one of the tios (uncles), but haven't been there yet either. We've been kept really busy, training most of the day and then struggling through conversations and developing relationships with our host families. I have a young mother as my host mom. She has a one-year old baby, and a 5 year old. The 5 year old, Hilary, is very affectionate and always wants to play with me, use my iPad for games, and have me make her a perro de globo (balloon dog). Unfortunately, the iPad is almost dead so I haven't used it much, and I'm waiting to buy a converter and surge protecter before I trust the plugs here. So far, I've been enjoying my time immensely, and am learning non-stop. My Spanish confidence is already way better, although I'm not sure I've yet learned much. Its my confidence that's improved drastically in these few days, the vocab will take a bit longer. I taught my host tia and prima (aunt and female cousin who live with us or us with them not quite sure on that distinction) how to play Skip-bo last night. That experience was great because I was really forced to get creative and explain the entire game and strategies in Spanish. They enjoyed it and asked to play again. Hopefully, we'll get my host mom and grandma to join in.
Some interesting cultural things that I've seen here so far is that many many houses have Roof Dogs. My fellow trainees have decided this would be an awesome band name or perhaps a discoteca. Anyways, basically people leave their dogs on their roofs to act as an alarm, deterrant and doorbell. Also, they never drink water. Its always coffee, tea, or various types of soda. I knew this going in but it's really striking to see. I'm constantly getting different juices or sodas and so far I really don't care for any of them. Guess I'm just an agua type of girl. Also, the mountains around us here are completely barren, naturally. Its just brown dirt and rock. Its very strange, but also kind of neat. We're surrounded by them here at Santa Eulalia. It's relatively dry and warm. I'm wearing cargo pants and a tshirt until evening when I put on my coat, more as a bug deterrant than because of the temperature.
I got place in Spanish basic-mid level, and have to reach intermediate-mid level by the end of training in order to swear in. I'm of mixed feelings for that. I am nervous about a deadline or interview that I have to pass, but on the other hand, I really feel that I'm placed a little lower than absolutely necessary right now. I have a relatively good grasp of the basics we've gone over so far. So I think I can do it...hopefully. Can't jinx myself.
Of my packing job, so far things have worked out. I couldn't find my watch until yesterday which made things a ton easier. I also discovered only one bottle of my bugspray emptied itself which is a relief, since I've definitely needed and used it. Shout out to Shelly, Chuck, 'laney, and Char' for it; it's definitely necessary and doubles as a perfume haha (its lemon eucalyptus, sin deet which is the best part). I'm not quite sure what else to say here, so I think I'll wrap it up and when I've had more time to reflect, I'll write more. Please give me questions or ideas about what you want to hear about on facebook or here, and I'll gladly fill you in.
Things on my mind:
1. Will I have time to myself to read all the papers and notebooks I've been given during training?
2. When will communicating be less of a headache? Its been a difficult mental exercise the last two days, constant learning and attention given at all hours. No relaxing yet. Even learning to use the shower was a lesson in language, culture, and technique. By the way, I do have a shower with a faucet, but it is COLD and only works in the mornings. As a fellow trainee said, it was REFRESHING, very REFRESHING, at least that's what we need to keep telling ourselves. It really is all about the mindset here :)
Hasta luego (formal goodbye)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
First day in Peru!
Well, I've finally made it to Peru. It's both more and less than I would have thought. I was utterly exhausted from my two nights in D.C. As well as the night before flying there. In those three nights I got approximately ten hors of sleep, and not good, deep sleep either. Anyway, I was exhausted and couldn't sleep on the plane rides, so the additional hour and a half bus ride to our "retreat" lodging was torture. I tried to take in all the new and potentially exciting sights, but it was 11 o'clock, and frankly the sights weren't very exciting. It was a pretty busy two lane highway, and a lot of graffiti on poor, run-down places. I was getting a little scared about it all when we got to a somewhat nicer area. So while it wasn't too bad overall, it made me conscious of how much I'd need to pay attention to everything going on when out. It wasn't a friendly looking place. After getting a solid 6 hours sleep at our retreat compound and seeing how pretty it is here, I felt much better. The birds were singing, and everyone was excited again. We're staying at this place so that the Peru staff got a chance to introduce themselves and do some general overviews and explaining. All the speeches were very motivational, and the staff friendly and funny. I really like everyone so far, other trainees and staff. I think the only down part to the day was realizing that the 30 health volunteers are leaving for their training facility tomorrow. All those awesome people that I probably won't see again...but I very much look forward to tomorrow. That's because I'll meet my host family of the next ten weeks and then settle into the training on Monday.
I've also learned a lot more about what my time as a volunteer will likely be like. While I still don't know where I will be placed, it will be somewhere in Ancash, Lima, Lambayeque, Junin, and Pasco. Also, it will very likely be somewhere rural, with around 200 to 500 people. There are three goals that the environmental group works towards. They are environmental education, natural resource management and solid waste disposal. Basically, we're supposed to do environmental lesson at schools, plant trees and build micro landfills. Any other project is optional based on the community interest. It sounds exciting, doable and useful all at the same time. I'm really looking forward to getting started. However, I have a long way to go on my conversational Spanish first.
After we got through the trainings, we had quite a bit of free time. Tina, one of the other environmental trainees was talked into teaching bellydancing which was a lot of fun. After getting some of the basic moves, I wandered off to play volleyball. I'd been looking forward to that since learning there was a volleyball net. We played volleyball until dinnertime, when it was too dark to be playing much more anyway. We had spaghetti for dinner with soup and jello. It was interesting; the spaghetti was very yummy actually. By then it was still only a bit before 8 pm so I joined a group playing a game I'd never seen before. They called it "challenge". You receive four cards arranged in a square facedown. You can only look at the two cards nearest you once, and can't look at the back row at all. The objective was to have the least amount of points, and each of your four cards was tallied at the nod of each round. Twos and threes were negative of their value, and four through ten are face value. Jack is worth zero points, while queens and kings are ten points. The ace is worst of all, being fifteen points. The top card of the deck of cards is flipped and the person after the dealer gets to take that card or draw from the deck. You can either blindly replace the back two cards or replace the known ones in front. Then you discard and the next person gets to choose that one or from the deck, and so on. The round was over when someone was satisfied with their setup and said challenge. That meant everyone else got one more chance before the cards are flipped to count up. We started adding fun rules like if you had three cards that were the same, you added them up as normal but then divided your total points in half. And it was like hearts where the rounds keep going and you accumulate points. Also, if you managed to get your total to 50, 100, and so on, your points went to zero. It was pretty fun. Would have made a fun drinking game I feel like, if all the losers had to drink at each round. We played quite a few rounds with two decks of cards and like ten people.
Things on my mind right now:
What will I talk to my host family about?
Will their home be far from the training center? I don't want to take the combi everyday.
How bad is the language training going to be?
Well it's getting late finally, so I'll get some more sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, get to meet the people I'll live with for ten weeks and I'll get my two checked bags back (currently they're all locked up, and while loading the bus I could smell the bug spray I packed so clearly at least one broke and got out of the gallon bag it was packed in. Get to see how bad the damage is tomorrow. At least the bag will smell awesome and repel bugs. And doesn't have any Deet.)
I've also learned a lot more about what my time as a volunteer will likely be like. While I still don't know where I will be placed, it will be somewhere in Ancash, Lima, Lambayeque, Junin, and Pasco. Also, it will very likely be somewhere rural, with around 200 to 500 people. There are three goals that the environmental group works towards. They are environmental education, natural resource management and solid waste disposal. Basically, we're supposed to do environmental lesson at schools, plant trees and build micro landfills. Any other project is optional based on the community interest. It sounds exciting, doable and useful all at the same time. I'm really looking forward to getting started. However, I have a long way to go on my conversational Spanish first.
After we got through the trainings, we had quite a bit of free time. Tina, one of the other environmental trainees was talked into teaching bellydancing which was a lot of fun. After getting some of the basic moves, I wandered off to play volleyball. I'd been looking forward to that since learning there was a volleyball net. We played volleyball until dinnertime, when it was too dark to be playing much more anyway. We had spaghetti for dinner with soup and jello. It was interesting; the spaghetti was very yummy actually. By then it was still only a bit before 8 pm so I joined a group playing a game I'd never seen before. They called it "challenge". You receive four cards arranged in a square facedown. You can only look at the two cards nearest you once, and can't look at the back row at all. The objective was to have the least amount of points, and each of your four cards was tallied at the nod of each round. Twos and threes were negative of their value, and four through ten are face value. Jack is worth zero points, while queens and kings are ten points. The ace is worst of all, being fifteen points. The top card of the deck of cards is flipped and the person after the dealer gets to take that card or draw from the deck. You can either blindly replace the back two cards or replace the known ones in front. Then you discard and the next person gets to choose that one or from the deck, and so on. The round was over when someone was satisfied with their setup and said challenge. That meant everyone else got one more chance before the cards are flipped to count up. We started adding fun rules like if you had three cards that were the same, you added them up as normal but then divided your total points in half. And it was like hearts where the rounds keep going and you accumulate points. Also, if you managed to get your total to 50, 100, and so on, your points went to zero. It was pretty fun. Would have made a fun drinking game I feel like, if all the losers had to drink at each round. We played quite a few rounds with two decks of cards and like ten people.
Things on my mind right now:
What will I talk to my host family about?
Will their home be far from the training center? I don't want to take the combi everyday.
How bad is the language training going to be?
Well it's getting late finally, so I'll get some more sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, get to meet the people I'll live with for ten weeks and I'll get my two checked bags back (currently they're all locked up, and while loading the bus I could smell the bug spray I packed so clearly at least one broke and got out of the gallon bag it was packed in. Get to see how bad the damage is tomorrow. At least the bag will smell awesome and repel bugs. And doesn't have any Deet.)
Friday, September 16, 2011
At the Airport in D.C.
Hello again, I'm borrowing a friend's laptop to post a quick update. For some reason, my iPad 2 doesn't want to connect to the airport's wifi while hers is. Anyways, my time in D.C. has flown by so quickly. Haven't slept much, but its been great getting to know everyone. I guess there's only 62 of us, not 67. Meet a lot of great people, still struggling to attach all their names to faces.
I went to see the memorials and the White House Thursday morning, and they were really cool. It felt very strange to see the Federal Appeals building, the Federal Patent building, and the Treasury. Also, the guys with big semi-autos at the White House were awesome. I really wish I'd had time to see the museums at the Mall, but there wasn't time. The Holiday Inn we all stayed at was in Georgetown, which is absolutely gorgeous. All the sidewalks are of brick and most of the buildings are too; it looks very stately, historic and pricey. Very chic. Other than that not much has happened. We went to bars both nights and had some drinks, but it was very low-key as everyone was trying to get to know each other. We're all headed to Peru now, so its getting exciting finally. Anyways, I'm going to give the laptop back and get some lunch before the flight. I'll try to post a more thought-out blog when we get to Peru and I have a moment to myself.
I went to see the memorials and the White House Thursday morning, and they were really cool. It felt very strange to see the Federal Appeals building, the Federal Patent building, and the Treasury. Also, the guys with big semi-autos at the White House were awesome. I really wish I'd had time to see the museums at the Mall, but there wasn't time. The Holiday Inn we all stayed at was in Georgetown, which is absolutely gorgeous. All the sidewalks are of brick and most of the buildings are too; it looks very stately, historic and pricey. Very chic. Other than that not much has happened. We went to bars both nights and had some drinks, but it was very low-key as everyone was trying to get to know each other. We're all headed to Peru now, so its getting exciting finally. Anyways, I'm going to give the laptop back and get some lunch before the flight. I'll try to post a more thought-out blog when we get to Peru and I have a moment to myself.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11/11- Looking back and looking forward
If I was asked to sum the day up as succinctly as possible, I would have to say it was bittersweet. Today, the entire nation was remembering the tragic events that unfolded 10 years ago.When I watched the news footage from the day again in time order, I could not prevent myself from crying at the horror of the live news coverage of the second airplane crashing into the South Tower. It is gut-wrenching to see that having lived the aftermath and all the suffering that has come from it. After taking a moment of silence, I tried to refocus my thoughts and remember the courage of Flight 93 that fought off the hijackers and crashed in Pennsylvania. I also found comfort in spending the day at my dads with family and friends. We celebrated my grandpa and dad's birthdays that are later this month as well as my departure to Peru. Life has gone on, and there are people doing wonderful things. I hope that the time I spend in Peru helping the communities there has some small effect in making the world a better place.
I said my final goodbyes to some of my family and friends that I won't see for another 27 months at least, and I will be doing more of the same in the next two days. That would be another reason, if I needed more, for the day being bittersweet. It's difficult realizing how much of their lives I will miss out on, and how much of mine they will too. As I write this, I realize that probably the only people reading this will be those very same people I'm saying goodbye to, so...I'm going to miss you guys! I hope the time I spend in Peru truly does help some people, so that it will be worth it. Speaking of hopes for the future...
Thoughts for activities in Peru:
Hasta la proxima vez! (Likely sometime between next Friday and Monday)
I said my final goodbyes to some of my family and friends that I won't see for another 27 months at least, and I will be doing more of the same in the next two days. That would be another reason, if I needed more, for the day being bittersweet. It's difficult realizing how much of their lives I will miss out on, and how much of mine they will too. As I write this, I realize that probably the only people reading this will be those very same people I'm saying goodbye to, so...I'm going to miss you guys! I hope the time I spend in Peru truly does help some people, so that it will be worth it. Speaking of hopes for the future...
Thoughts for activities in Peru:
- I want to find other people who are interested in martial arts. Hopefully, I can even find a place to train, even if its something other than Hapkido
- I hope some of us Volunteers do group trips hiking, or surfing, or touring around together
- I wonder if anyone would be interested in going to Carnival with me
Hasta la proxima vez! (Likely sometime between next Friday and Monday)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Introduction - 5 days and counting before the adventure begins
I'm not sure how these generally start and so I'll just begin, seems the most effective to me. I am creating this blog to both record my experiences in Peru and to share them with my family and friends. That being said, who am I?
I'm Allison Eichele, a recent graduate from the University of California, Davis. I graduated with a degree in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology with a focus on Conservation Biology. I also received a minor in Philosophy. I'm interested in conserving the world's amazing biodiversity as well as sharing that amazing-ness with people (especially children) for the long-term preservation of life. This is why I applied to serve with Peace Corps. After 7 months of application process, they accepted me and assigned me to Peru.
I suppose here would be a great time to say that this blog is going to be my own experiences and opinions and does not and will not reflect that of Peace Corps, or the US government, and all that jazz.
So anyway, I've been accepted as a community-based environmental educator and along with 66 other volunteers will be departing the States for Peru on Sept. 16th, 2011, likely not to return till November 2013. It's going to be a long journey with life-changing experiences I'm sure. You may be noticing today's date, doing the math and wondering why I've said in the title that its only 5 more days till the adventure. Well that's because I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. on the 14th for Staging. This will be where I "register" and hand over the last of the paperwork. I'll also receive my visa and no-fee passport, and I will have my personal private citizen passport returned (it was used to issue me the special no-fee one). I'm very much looking forward to getting to see my nation's capitol before I leave it for 27 months.
Things on my mind right now:
I'm Allison Eichele, a recent graduate from the University of California, Davis. I graduated with a degree in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology with a focus on Conservation Biology. I also received a minor in Philosophy. I'm interested in conserving the world's amazing biodiversity as well as sharing that amazing-ness with people (especially children) for the long-term preservation of life. This is why I applied to serve with Peace Corps. After 7 months of application process, they accepted me and assigned me to Peru.
I suppose here would be a great time to say that this blog is going to be my own experiences and opinions and does not and will not reflect that of Peace Corps, or the US government, and all that jazz.
So anyway, I've been accepted as a community-based environmental educator and along with 66 other volunteers will be departing the States for Peru on Sept. 16th, 2011, likely not to return till November 2013. It's going to be a long journey with life-changing experiences I'm sure. You may be noticing today's date, doing the math and wondering why I've said in the title that its only 5 more days till the adventure. Well that's because I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. on the 14th for Staging. This will be where I "register" and hand over the last of the paperwork. I'll also receive my visa and no-fee passport, and I will have my personal private citizen passport returned (it was used to issue me the special no-fee one). I'm very much looking forward to getting to see my nation's capitol before I leave it for 27 months.
Things on my mind right now:
- Am I packing the right stuff to take with me?
- Will I be able to manage my stuff and navigate safely in a foreign country?
- Can't wait to take pictures of EVERYTHING!
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