So, I´m a Peace Corps Volunteer

I guess now is a time to reflect my time spent here in Perú so far. It´s amazing that 10 weeks have already passed. I swore the oath to the US Constitution yesterday, and officially became a member of the Peace Corps Volunteers. Either tonight or tomorrow I will be leaving for my site, although I won´t get in until Monday due to the way public transport works (there are no cars into my site at night). So Monday will begin my next two years of life in Vicco, Pasco. Honestly, I´m a little scared of being all alone working in my site. I don´t know where I´ll start; it seems daunting. But I keep telling myself to take it one day at a time and soon I´ll be integrated and making a difference. I´ve made myself a little list of things I can accomplish in my first week in site, in case I get despondent. I will definitely be establishing my mailing address in that first week. I´ll be sharing it when I get it, in case anyone wants to write me letters.

I suppose I should feel pretty proud of myself, since I made it through training successfully. Not everyone in our entire group did. We lost two (to going home) from the Health program. I also wrote a 1500 word document in Spanish and presented it with the aid of a Powerpoint presentation. The presentation was about 10 minutes in Spanish as well. It was a big relief to get that accomplished, and it really was good practice for the real Diagnostic I will do in my site. That will be one of my focuses in these coming three months. I´ll be doing surveys, interviews, meetings, and informal chats to learn and gather information about Vicco so I know what my future projects should be. These will also establish me in the community, and help me integrate. Hopefully, I´ll also become more proficient in Spanish in that time, so that I can start the school year in March with more confidence.

I honestly don´t know what to write here right now. I feel like I´ve accomplished a lot, and I have a lot ahead of me. Right now I´m tired, mostly because I couldn´t sleep well the last night with my nose being clogged. I´m pretty sure my little host sister got me sick. She coughs over everything. However, I´m really really going to miss everyone here in Santa Eulalia, and all my fellow new Volunteers. I sincerely hope I´ll visit them and see them again very soon. I´m so bad about calling people by phone to stay in touch, but with the phone plan we have here, calls are free between PCVs so this is the most common form of communication. I hope I get better about calling people when I feel bummed or just want to chat. I have a feeling this will be important for my continued sanity.