MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE!!!

Fuí chévere! (It was awesome!) I experienced my first ever earthquake the other night, but I will get to that in a bit. Since I last did this I have been busier than I ever expected. Monday was our first day of training and it was the most intense 8 hours of school that I have been through in years. My mom packed me a lunch and walked me to the Peace Corps center in true grade school style. All the other trainees followed in suite, and what made it even funnier was that all the little kids in Chaclacayo were going to their first day of school also, minus their mothers. Back home in college I chose my own schedule and now I have seen that my schedule for the next 2 years is more or less filled in and packed full of hard work. It is nice to see so much structure, but it can be a little daunting at the same time. The day consisted of safety lectures, medical lectures, getting 3 more shots, and finding out more about our future programs. Lunch was an entertaining part of the day, as all the trainees compared our lunches from home and tried to figure out what each dish consisted of. The mass amounts of information are very important and now it’s just a fun game to try to keep up with it all.

After our training it was back to the house for more conversation with my family over dinner. So far I have an iron stomach. I love all food and this is just a test of that love. I have eaten everything and anything that has crossed my plate. Tonight I found out that the brown chunks in my soup were híga de pollo (chicken liver). My vegetable and fruit intake has gone through the roof, as I get different soups every day with several vegetables and sometimes odd meats. I am amazed at the amount of food I receive here. I get to have tea with every meal which is one reason for my stomach being just fine and in general I think I could really get used to this tea thing.

Our second day of training was more practical as we started our Spanish classes. Three hours a day, three days a week. Outside of class all the trainees speak English to each other, but once we are away from one another it is Spanish for everything all the time and I find myself thinking how to say every thought I have in Spanish. Our class is kindergarten class if there was one, but it is necessary. I still have to face the fact that it’s a, “you have to learn to crawl before you walk type of thing.” The classes are very interactive and always non-formal learning style which I love. Half of our classes from now on are in the houses of the classmates. Our teacher Isabella (Isa) is 35 and is possibly the nicest and happiest teacher I have ever had.

The second day of my training was followed by a trip to Chosica, which is a ten minute ride by combi and an experience that I won’t soon forget because the combis will be our main mode of transportation while we are in Chaclacayo. Combis are these little buses that get packed full of people, smell like Peruvian food, and are extremely fun to ride. You have to throw yourself from the door or else you are going for a longer ride and they don’t care one bit. I went with my host sister to the market to grab a backpack and a few other supplies, all of which are extremely cheap compared to back home. On the ride back I listened to The Beatles and Guns and Roses with my sister during what turned out to be a great bonding experience in my eyes.

In Peru there are earthquakes all the time but it still doesn’t put everyone at ease. My host mom is very frightened by them while my dad and my sister don’t wake up at all and have no problem with them if they do. I happened to wake up ten minutes before the earthquake for a late night bathroom trip so I was lying in bed when I started to feel the shaking. I knew I was probably in the safest place I could be so I just laid there and enjoyed as the rumbling got stronger and stronger. It reminded me of one of those old beds you see in movies that you can put a coin in and have it shake (Vacation movie w/ Chevy Chase). The next day I asked my host parents about it and they said it was just a small little tremor. If that was a tremor bring on more of those! I loved it! The last really big destructive earthquake in Peru took place in 2008 or 2007 is what I’ve heard, but that was in the southern part of Peru hundreds and hundreds of miles away (in Pisco, I think is the name.)

The next day I hiked up my first Peruvian mountain. All the mountains surrounding us are incredibly steep, but you can really appreciate it when you try to scale the side of one. We climbed our way up to a path that took us to a cross at the top of a smaller mountain separating our village from the rest of Chaclacayo. The contrast between the house on one side of the mountain and the other side was staggering. Our village of Huascaran is still under construction and my house, along with many other houses, are considered class D houses. The houses on the other side of the mountain, just a five minute walk away are considered class B or class A houses (summer vacation houses in many cases. Almost every house on the wealthy side had a big green yard and nice pool. On my side there are no pools, no yards, no green, and in a lot of cases the houses have no roofs in many parts. I am more than happy with my family and my house, but just to see the contrast between the haves and the have-nots was an amazing eye opener.

We will be going to places in need of much more help than anyone here and the hike I went on with the other volunteer was a good reminder of why we are here. If I can help improve the lives of the community members at my site just a small amount hopefully that will start the progress for a healthy and more equal Peru.

The view from my window. Not exactly the highest mountain in Peru, (Huascaran) but I am in the town it is named after. All in all it´s a good view. I have a much better view from my roof but I haven´t had time for a lot of pictures yet.