Finally!!

October 5, 2010

As I begin my third week of pre-service training with the Peace Corps in Peru, I am amazed that it has taken me this long to get my blog up and running. I’m not sure why, but I was under the impression that I would have all sorts of free time during these first 10 weeks in Peru. I brought books and other things to pass the time thinking I would actually get bored- ha! There is no time to be bored, and even if they didn’t have us training full time (Saturday mornings as well), just getting to know my new home and family takes a great deal of time and energy.

I guess I’ll begin this entry by describing what has become my new daily routine as a Peace Corps trainee. For those of you who know me well, you will quickly see how much of an adjustment this is for me. I’m used to having A LOT more freedom with my time management…which isn’t necessarily a good thing. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m in bed by 10:30pm every night and up at 6:30am. I keep joking (and sometimes I don’t find it very funny) that I feel like a grade school student again. I have breakfast with my host parents which usually consists of bread with a fried egg or omelet of some sort, avocado some days. I usually get freshly made juice and either instant coffee with milk or what my host mom calls “Quaker” which is hot milk with oatmeal and other grains. For a person who visited Starbucks on a daily basis, I was suffering some mild mid-morning headaches for the first week. That has passed, but several of the volunteers and I frequent the few cafes around our training center where you can get a cup of drip coffee. That gets expensive however. I am happy to say that my dear friend Kendra, who is currently working in Lima, actually gave me her cafetera (a small stovetop percolator) and a bag of ground coffee yesterday at the end of our visit. I almost shed a tear today when I brewed my first cup of coffee in weeks…it’s the little things, ya know?

We have training from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Four of those hours are dedicated strictly to language training. The volunteers are at all levels from basic to advanced. I was moved from the intermediate high to the advanced group after our first day, which has been a blessing in many forms. While my Spanish is far from perfect, I’m definitely past the point where I need to practice grammar and basic vocab. Our group focuses more on learning about Peruvian culture and getting acquainted with the “jergas”, or slang. We also focus on health vocabulary. Furthermore, we get to conduct a mini-project of our choice during training where we will execute on a very small scale something similar to what we will be doing once we get to site. After having received a talk on nutrition and observed, and consumed, the typical diet here (suuuuper heavy on the carbs and very light on the greens), I’ve decided I want to hold a nutrition class/cooking demonstration with several of the mothers in my community. Fresh produce is definitely available, and not at exorbitant prices. I would just like to share some information on the different nutrients that fruits and vegetables contain, and hence why it’s important to consume them. I would also like to share some cooking tips on how to prepare them. I’m going to begin at home too! I already had a talk with my host parents and I told them that I don’t want to gain weight, so they have to give me less rice with lunch and dinner. They weren’t at all offended and my host mom, who is dieting herself, has happily complied. It’s funny though, because she always offers to serve me more and I always politely refuse. Then my host dad chimes in, “Don’t tempt her!” And believe me, it’s tempting. Overall, the food has been delicious. The flavors are great, and they’ve started serving me “ahí” with meals which is a delicious spicy sauce that I put on everything. They’re amazed at my tolerance for spicy. I’m hoping to be able to cook a meal for them soon, and it will definitely be accompanied by a big salad.

The other half of our day is spent involved in technical training for the community health program. So far, we’ve covered the basics like learning the goals of the Peace Corps Peru health program- rural health promotion, rural environmental health promotion, and healthy sexual behaviors. There are multiple objectives and projects that fall under these goals and I’ll name a few- improved kitchens, family gardens, animal husbandry, latrines, hand washing, exclusive breast feeding, complimentary feeding, training rural health promoters (including mothers and youth to be peer educators), and youth development. I think you can understand why the training is so extensive if we are to be given the knowledge and tools to implement any number of these projects in our sites. We are also given the freedom to incorporate our own interests into community projects- people have started community libraries and conducted yoga classes, for example. I am already thinking about introducing some sort of cardio dance class- just something that incorporates my love of music and movement which I think will go over well anywhere. This past week we focused on the tools we will use to conduct our community diagnosis (this will take up the first 3 months at site). The tools are both qualitative and quantitative (including a survey which we have to administer to at least 80 households), as well as a specific Peace Corps tool called Participatory Analysis for Community Action. The emphasis here is that the community participates fully in the diagnostic process so that THEY tell US what they need in the community. We don’t just sweep in like all-knowing Americans and start building latrines. We talk to people, conduct informal interviews, do community mapping and SWOT analyses so that the community conveys to us what they need. Plus, this gives us time for to get established and well-known in the community which will likely make them more receptive to our proposals. It’s a lot of information and it can be a little overwhelming when I think of how much is expected of us (in addition to carrying out my practicum and thesis here), but I’m more excited than anything. I have to fight the desire to just get going and remember that this training is essential to our success. We’ve also been given opportunities to practice in the community, which is very helpful and intimidating at times. I’ve been forced out of my comfort zone a few times already. I still don’t know exactly where I’ll be working and I won’t know that until we get our placements in early November.

Once I get home from “school”, I go for a run…yes a run! And it’s one of the best parts of my day. Again, after the talk they gave us on nutrition, where we were basically told to expect to gain about 15 pounds because of the diet here, I am absolutely resolute that I will not. So, I make the long hike up the hill from our house to the dusty soccer field at the top and I run/walk several laps. I don’t keep track of how many laps but, after just a week, I’ve noticed that I’m running more and walking less. The best part though is the opportunity to put on my ipod and just lose myself in the music. Having very little alone time has been the hardest adjustment so far I’d say (even harder than lukewarm showers, crazy public transport, and not being able to flush toilet paper). I treasure putting on my headphones and working out for those 30-45 minutes. I’d probably run more, but it’s getting dark by 6pm and I try to be in the house by then. I always have dinner with the whole family which varies in size depending on the day of the week. Dinner is followed by a few telenovelas (soap operas) and some homework, and then I’m exchausted. My host family is amazing by the way. I think it probably helps that we’ve both done this before. They’ve had 5 volunteers before me and I’ve lived with families in Chile and the Dominican Republic. But truthfully, I feel like I got the luck of the draw. Their home is a little more humble than many of the others in the neighborhood, but there is no doubt in my mind that they’ve taken me in as one of their own. Besides my host mom (Cecilia) and dad (Máximo), one of their sons (Tonio) lives in the house with his wife (Fiorela) and their 2-yr old daughter (Kiara). Their other son (Dante) visits on the weekends with his girlfriend (Melisa). My host parents also have a daughter (Joana) who is my age and lives with another family in the community so I don’t see her as often. The first time I met her she would not let go of my hand and told me to think of her as my sister- this was a relief as I feared she had been pushed out of the house to accommodate me, but it turns out she moved out by choice. As the weeks have gone by, they’ve opened up to me and vice versa. Fiorela, for example, did not say a word to me the first few days, but now we chat all the time- from her work as a nurse to clothes and shoes.  I say this because I’m constantly reminded that, while I’m here to improve the quality of life of rural Peruvians, it’s all about the relationships we form. We’re not just learning about each other, but also learning about each other’s backgrounds and hopefully breaking down some stereotypes and building relationships that impact us and our respective communities for years to come.

And speaking of relationships, the other health volunteers (and Peace Corps staff overall) are good people. There are definitely a few that I’ve really clicked with and I can already tell that we’ll be traveling around South America together when we finally get some free time.

I want to close this entry with a few of the highlights of the first few weeks.

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  Going to the market with my host mom and witnessing all sorts of sights, sounds and smells. As if the gutting of fish and giant hanging sides of beef weren't enough to shock me, I saw a fight break out between a female vendor and 2 female customers she accused of stealing. First, the limes started to fly and the next thing I knew they were beating each other over the heads with cucumbers. My host mom and I still laugh about how the cucumbers paid for their argument...
• 
  
  Working with local high school students to develop a map of their current community and discuss what improvements they would like to see take place
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  Learning to manage the 'combi', the main system of public transportation here. These little buses are craziness on wheels. They pack us in like sardines and barely stop for you to get on and off.
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  Trying anticuchos, basically cow heart kabobs. These were pretty tasty but I have to admit I'm still dreading trying the cuy (guinea pig) that everyone tells us we'll have to eat in the sierra. Oh well, I'll try anything once!

And lastly, I want to provide my mailing address here (until I get to site and have my permanent address) in case you want to send a note via post:

Sarah Peterson, PCT

Cuerpo de Paz Peru

Los Cedros 647

Chaclacayo

Lima 08, Perú

Disclaimer: The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the US government or the Peace Corps.