friendship | perusing peru...

31/08/2013

adventure, chaparri, friendship, happenings, happiness, hiking

chaparri!

a couple of weeks ago, i received a last minute phone call from my friend, tina, who asked ali and i to join the ministerio de turismo at chaparri…all expenses paid. of course i knew better than to say no, and freely offered my help as they were looking for gringos to use in new promotional materials they are making for the ministerio de turismo.

chaparri is a nature reserve about 90 minutes from chiclayo and generally speaking is quite expensive to reach because of its remoteness. however, the reserve is famous to bird watchers and animal lovers around the world. it has partnerships with zoos in france and london, and pumas, foxes, wild hogs and the endangered spectacled bear…and of course countless species of birds. here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

letting us know we were headed in the right direction.

tree sap.

enjoying the scenery!

we thought we heard a cat…surprise!

the osos!!!

the photographer and bear getting personal.

scratching his back (or) striking a pose? you decide.

the bears were checking out the aerial camera.

ali getting photographed.

just hanging out with a cobra…nbd…

stepping inside the shaman’s office.

the whole crew!

Tagged chaparri, culture, environment, hiking, nature, nature reserve, outdoors, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, peru, travel, tree sap, wild hogs

28/08/2013

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campo, caserios, food, friendship, happiness

una noche en el campo.

dinner by candlelight.

a couple of weeks ago, i had the opportunity to have a sleepover with one of my lambaybesties in the campo. she lives in a caserio outside of changoyape. the next day i was going to head to chaparri, and her site is the last place before the reserve, plus we got to have some quality time!!! we ate some veggies and watched the count of monte cristo, and basically were just cracking ourselves up about how gross it is to be a peace corps volunteer sometimes…don’t worry, i will spare you the details. but it was such a fun night!

Tagged candlelight, caserios, count of monte cristo, food, friendship, fun night, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, peru, quality time, sleepover

19/06/2013

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family, friendship, happenings, happiness, home, túcume

home. +1.

peru on our world map.

well. this month marks my one year mark of living in peru. i did it! but really, to live and adapt and integrate into a foreign country is not a cake walk, but it has also been one of the most enriching experiences. i arrived to peru, well….exhausted…, but completely open minded to the experiences that awaited. i also arrived only being able to reply with “si.” and by the second day, i was able to say the word “claro.” and i only hoped that i wasn’t agreeing to anything too absurd.

after learning enough language to survive, and receiving a full library’s worth of manuals and books, i was sent off to a pueblo in the middle of the peruvian northern coastal desert. this pueblo has slowly but surely become my home. i have built a strong relationship with a family that has become my own. i have built friendships with people who have never shorted me with their patience, their positivity and love….and of course, food.

traditional mochican wall carving.

their passion for their immense cultural history here has captured me, and as i explore and discover new parts of my site’s more rural parts, i relish in the fact that i am experiencing a living history.

i have discovered that in order to truly grow to love a place and people and culture, you have to endure the hardships as well as relish in the great things. throughout my time in site thus far, i have had some key socios move or have a change in career, a month long school strike, accumulative to a month’s strike from the health post, a school that started more than a month late, have spent hours upon hours waiting for people to show for meetings, and so much more. another challenge for me, in particular, was breaking the social barriers that existed in my municipality because of my being a female and a foreigner. so, when i was asked to raise my district’s flag with my mayor during my town’s celebratory flag ceremony for bolognesi, which happened to share the same date of arrival to peru, my heart was overwhelmed…because for me, this was a sign of how far i had come, and how far my site and i have come together. the truth is, everyone’s site is completely different. and some come with more difficulties than others, and sometimes i found myself wishing for an easier service. but, at the end of the day, it was through those challenges, that have come to call my site home. that it is. home. with one more year + a couple of months. i’m home. and i love it here.

getting ready to walk the flag through town before the flag raising ceremony.

Tagged community, culture, desarollo humano, friendship, home, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, people, peru, tucume

16/06/2013

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friendship

(girl)friends.

my lambaysexy ladies (+zack) at camp alma.

friends are always a necessity. they are always important. and my time in peru has proven to me how important that truly is. i read on a blog once that we as volunteers receive, “government issued friends.” in some ways, that is true, as we are all here due to our government-made assignments, but at the same time, i relate to my friends on a deeper level, and our friendship transcends the idea of “government issued.” the bonds that have been formed through laughing so hard our sides hurt, or calling each other on days where you feel like you can’t make it another day living in a foreign land, or painting our nails over friday night skype sessions (what else would be doing on a friday night in site at 9pm?), these bonds are unbreakable. they are permanent.

my favorite 19er ladies.

we also have the incredible opportunity to explore a foreign country together, and forge our way into integrating into a culture that just a year or more ago, we had zero insight on. we bond over the challenges of creating a home and community in a developing country. we also help build each other and give each other strength when it’s needed. we also can provide each other the biggest laughs, and even find the mundane to have it’s own sense of humor.

not a day goes by where i don’t talk to this girl.

it’s our different backgrounds that bring us together, and it’s those things that we share in common that continuously builds our bond. i cherish my ladies nights that include ribs and 3o rock, nights filled with painting our nails, supporting each other’s projects, and just listening to each other’s days. being in the peace corps, has transformed my idea of what it really means to be a friend.

ladies night!

without my (girl)friends, i don’t know what i would do. i have truly been lucky in the people i have met and the “government issued” friends that i have near me. without the laughs and hugs from these ladies, and their always eager ears to listen, this experience would be infinitely more difficult. instead, we are able to help each other laugh, and rediscover our goofy side in those moments where it is most needed. and without them, i wouldn’t have a shoulder to cry on when i need it the most. and i wouldn’t have the best cheerleaders to help me carry on when i need it the most. i am lucky to have a group where we are not just friends, but we actively work to continue to bring the best out of each other and help each other achieve their goals. and that’s incredible.

the best.

Tagged community, friends, friendship, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, people, peru

30/05/2013

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adventure, artisans, birthday, campo, caserios, family, friendship, happenings, happiness, home, love, mp, pyramids, sex ed, túcume, update, vacation, youth group

the great may escape.

goodness gracious. my, oh, my how time has escaped us…or really just me.

after celebrating the most incredible peruvian birthday, i hopped on a plane to visit friends and family in the us. i was overwhelmed in general, but also by the love of those closest to me. bu seriously, i was pretty overwhelmed culturally as well. being in the peace corps, you get so used to a certain pace of life, a very slow one, and also that about 90% of your time is spent independent of all other americans and in solitude in your country’s culture. another 5% is spent with any volunteer that may be near you, who you may see with varying frequency (once a week or once every month or so depending on schedules). and the final 5% is with other volunteers once or twice month, who are all living the same life of solitude as you, so really we are pretty not self-aware of how strangely awkward we have become. so, to put me in a situation where i was constantly interacting with people, by the end of the 3rd day in a row, i slept for almost a full 24 hours to catch up. though, i am not complaining. it was so wonderful to see all of my family. and i am so blessed that my brother and close friend both flew in from nyc to see me.

it was especially nice to get to spend time with mp, who was my main reason to visit the us. when mp last left, we went to cusco and lima, and now it was my turn to pay him a visit. though, he kept me quite busy and even gave me a second birthday surprise! he coordinated with a local animal sanctuary to do an at-home visit with a SLOTH and FENNEC FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i think it should also be noted that i got my hair cut for the first time in almost a year, and saw it straightened and cleaned, and i felt like a new woman. but obviously with the animals above i was on another level of excitement that was out of this world. eventually all good (read: great) things have to come to an end, and a very reluctant to leave girl was pushed on to her plane by an amazing mp to return to peru.

i arrived back to peru in one piece, and had a few days in site to remind everyone that i was still here and wanting to work, and also coordinate and prepare for our PEPFAR (president’s emergency plan for aids relief) training. with this training, my socia and i were able to take away a number of great new resources and statistics to share with our community, and now have the opportunity to receive aid money for our project.

doris and i after she received her certificate of completion!

the following week, we jump started our 6 classes of our sex ed leadership training program, but unfortunately later that week, she received news that she was being transfered to another post far from my site, so now i am still spearheading this training, but more so solo-style, since my health post is dramatically understaffed, and have them help out when it needed. but if anything, this motivates me even more to get my youth promoters trained, so they then can be doing this part and alleviate some of the stress from the health post as well.

i have been terrible about using my camera lately, so i will succinctly describe the other activities that have been keeping me quite busy:

i have been giving business charlas to the artisans, and helping them figure out what the costs of their products are and how to determine what they should be setting as their prices. and goodness, they were in need of this. one artisan had been selling these beautifully embroidered bread covers for only 10 soles, when the cost alone to make them was 35 soles.
6 classes of pasos a week keeps a girl busy. let’s just leave it at that.
i have been working with my youth leadership council (ADEPZORT) on helping them with their community diagnostic. we have been visiting the most rural caserios and my goodness, you never get used to seeing the amount of poverty that exists in this country, or in any country, but you can’t help but want to give so many more opportunities to these people.
celebrated dia internacional de los museos with other volunteers, and finally visited my museum’s pyramids.
weekly youth group meetings with my mochumi young women’s group.
coordinating a 5-pueblo job fair for september
coordinating an environmental awareness event with my colegio for next week.
working on a website for the artisans
working on a video for the museum
and of course, camp ALMA!!!!!!!!!!! (which will be covered in it’s own post)

so i have been busy, busy girl and for that i am grateful. i have also been able to watch all of the new arrested development…superb! as a parting gift, here is a picture from the top of one of my pyramids:

Tagged ancient burial grounds, animals, birthday, birthday surprise, caserios, community, community service, culture, environment, fennec fox, fox, foxes, health post, home, nature, outdoors, peace corps, people, peru, poverty, school, sloths, travel, tucume, vacation

23/04/2013

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birthday, earth day, family, friendship, happenings, love

(b)earth day.

where to even start? yesterday was an incredible (and long) day, and i felt love from all over the world. a birthday is quite the holiday in peru. in fact, legally, people are free from all work for the day…unless you are a peace corps volunteer.

it all started the night before where mp presented me a video of all those i love and have loved throughout my life wishing me a happy birthday. there were friends from high school, college and beyond, and people fro seattle, nyc, boston, utah, all over texas and everywhere in between. within seconds of seeing hans dialing the phone (the opening shot of the video), i was left in tears. tears of feeling so much love from back home. for those four minutes, the usa and all those i love there no longer seemed so far away. it was the best way to start the day.

samia barged into my room to show off her new brigadir uniform, which then followed with my host mom running in to hug me and sing happy birthday to me. i then worked on finalizing the details of my earth day event for the morning, and i learned with about 10 minutes in advance that the ong that was coming to speak about reforestation in the bosque was not going to make it…so i had 10 minutes to come up with an hour-long charla about the environment.

luckily, you learn to get pretty creative on the fly in peace corps. additionally, i was greeted with 70 students at my colegio singing happy birthday to me!

say, what?!

for the charla, i had an environmental youtube video i showed, then spent 30 minutes rambling about the ecosystem and reforestation. i also had us play a game outside…which went…well…let’s just say i was able to tie it all back in.

afterwards, we planned a pasacalle in conjunction with the primeria, and my students followed behind and cleaned up trash on the streets, while the primary kids, ironically, used more resources to look cute in earth day costumes and posters…and was burning trash to show the consequences of doing so…i still haven’t figured that one out yet…

me with some of my alumnos ready to pick up the litter!

me with some of my alumnas ready to pick up the litter!

blanca with her cutiepatootie students!

seriously. i don’t get the burning things to make a point act, but it’s peru…so it does kind of make sense…

taking over the pan-american highway…it’s what we do best.

you know, if one’s peace corps service was determined by the number of pasacalles one does…then i would be the pcv all-star…only because my site loves them, and is pretty reluctant to try something else…pero poco a poco we will see what we can do about that…

after an exhausting morning of corralling the alumnos around town and cleaning the streets, i came home and watched samia all afternoon. and she really demonstrated what it means to be four…tears…all day…for no reason…well, honestly, it was because she was exhausted, but i felt the consequences of that. for 3 1/2 hours straight it was just tears. at about the 2 hour mark it just became impressive.

also, our pesky chanchito has gotten bigger, stronger and smarter and keeps escaping. so i had to run after him a couple of times yesterday and redo his stake in the ground, which resulted him in getting his piggy-ness all over me…gross…

hammering the stake back into the ground…he was too close for my liking…

later that evening my family returned home, and they surprised me with my favorite meal: pollo a la brasa and of course, some birthday cake!

mi mama, yo y samia!

millie did such a great job on picking out the cake

i gave samia the reigns on my camera. i look like a giant in a 4-year-old’s eyes…not complaining…

the johnsons wished me an extra special birthday with a special blog post on cat’s website. it still makes me smile!

later, i went to mochumi to visit with my branch president. sunday, after church, a lady there randomly asked me when my birthday was and so i responded with “tomorrow.” this caused my branch president to run after me in the street and invite me back the chapel the next day for “something.” i figured it was going to be cake, and when i was walking up i could here some of the kids say “ella viene!, ella viene!” but then the lights went out and it was just my branch president. he then proceeded to pretend to “interview” me/have a birthday chat. we then went downstairs, and they hit the lights, and i was greeted by everyone in my branch for a surprise party. it was great! there was a saxophone. and decorations. it was the best. they made me dance in the middle with every male in the room (per tradition). they pushed my face into my cake (per peruvian tradition). we danced to the saxophone some cumbia, huayno and marinera. everyone gave some palabras (per peruvian custom).

my branch president and family. love these people so much.

listening to the wonderful words of people in my branch.

danixa giving her palabras.

seriously. love this girl.

lourdes, jasmin and their sister. some of the girls i work with.

making my wish and getting ready to blow out my candle…

lucho wanted me to play his saxophone in our picture. seriously. this man has some great talent.

not an awkward picture with the elders. ha.

the leftovers.

it was just so incredible. my heart was so full. in fact, it is still so full of all the outpouring of love i received yesterday. i wish i could stress just how small the world felt yesterday, because i truly felt love from all those all around the world. i have been less than enthused about turning 28 (for the first time in my life i feel old…), but i couldn’t have had a better day…including the chasing down our pig. also, i realized that birthdays are really just days to celebrate your relationship with all of those around you in your life, and i am grateful that i was able to do so!

peru. i fell more in love with you yesterday. every one else, thank you for making me feel so loved and cared for. i am so blessed.

Tagged birthday, birthday cake, church, community, culture, earth day, environment, family, food, home, host mom, love, nature, outdoors, parade, peace corps, peace corps volunteer, people, peru, pig, tucume

20/04/2013

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adventure, ancash, friendship, happenings, happiness, hauscaran, hiking, llama, relax, sierra, training

taking over the sierra.

beautiful huascaran.

or really, it would have been that the sierra took over me, since i spent the entire time there with a terrible cold that i am just now really getting over. in fact, it took two days after we came down from the mountainous city for my ear to finally pop…it was pretty tragic.

anyways, i headed to the beautiful department of ancash and stayed in huaraz, which is the department’s capital city nestled up in the andes, for a few days for a peace corps training for project design and management (pdm), and followed that training with my in-service training (ist). at pdm, we each brought a community partner that we work with, and introduce them to basic project design and management 101. it’s extremely rich in information and also follows an american schedule, which of course exhausted all the socios, as they are not used to working a 8a-6p schedule without a siesta in the middle of the day. it was also a lot of work to reiterate a lot of the principles that were being taught, but it was great to get to know my socio better, and we have become even better friends as a result!

half of our pdm group w/ socios!

me explaining some of the concepts with my socio, berardo.

after our long days of training, we went to the main city for water and just to take time to look around. this is me and some of my favorite fellow pcperu 19 ladies.

and i totally decided to fall for the tourist trap of posing with an alpaca because why not???

while there, in between being sick and at trainings, some ladies and i took the time to see a few other places in ancash.

beautiful yanguy. the original town was destroyed by a landslide, and rebuilt itself in a new location.

the domineering huascaran.

the beautiful, turquoise glacier made lake, laguna llanganuco.

as you can see i was unable to contain my excitement.

the awesome-looking bark on the trees.

on our way to see pastoruri.

some wild horses.

one of a kind cacti.

to get to the glacier, first you go by horseback and then hike for about another mile. this is me and my horse, ol’ smokey.

carlhey and i on our horses.

the view on our hike.

i made it!!!!

the glacier is an excellent example of the dramatic effects of global warming. so much of the glacier has changed just within even the last year!

another example of the melting glacier.

brrrrrrr!

Tagged ancash, culture, environment, huaraz, nature, outdoors, pastoruri, peace corps, peru, travel

25/03/2013

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adventure, friendship, happenings

farewell to samuel (read: sam-well).

despedida group lunch: ceviche on the beach-e.

one thing that should be noted about peace corps. each of our experiences is unique. no two services are the same. even those of us who serve so closely together. there are numerous reasons why this is, which i won’t go into. but just as no two services are the same, the length needed to serve also varies from volunteer-to-volunteer. some volunteers feel the need to serve the maximum 5 years of service, and others it’s just mere months, but normally most people complete 2 full years of service. the experiences we gain here are so unique, yet we form a strong bond of unity with one another, because on some levels we do understand the challenges and accomplishments we experience.

casey, sam and steve at lunch.

oh heyyyyyy ladiesssss.

for my dear friend, sam, his time has come to an end. he is the bravest volunteer i know. he has overcome numerous obstacles and made such an impression not only on the lives in his community, but also in his fellow volunteers’ lives. he has such a positive personality that is always ready to take advantage of whatever life has in store for him and to live every moment to its fullest. his enthusiasm is infectious, and he is irreplaceable. also, i think it’s also important to note that he is my fellow texan, and that is bond that i can never be broken.

the three musketeers.

sam. lambayeque won’t be the same without you. peru 19 won’t be the same without you. peru won’t be the same without you. but i am so happy that you get to share your greatness elsewhere (maybe even hawaii?). i can’t wait to be reunited with you again…because it WILL HAPPEN, and let’s be honest, it will probably look like this:

no apologies.

Tagged community, peace corps, people, peru

17/02/2013

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church, friendship, happenings

campeonata.

the jovencitas on their way to lambayeque.

generally speaking, young women stay in their houses most of the day, helping with chores and taking care of small siblings or nieces and nephews. so basically, the girls were really happy to have a day outside the house…without their parents! since it is too hot here to camp, there was a smal campeonata, in lambayeque that i took the young women to. we played volleyball and soccer in the morning and they were able to get to know other young women in the department of lambayeque. it was a pretty small turnout, about 10 girls in total, since my district only include the pueblos, BUT it still was a lot of fun!

the girls practicing their volley skills.

my first counselor, andrea, has the most adorable 1-year-old daughter. andrea is 19 and a recent convert to the church, and she is such a natural at connecting with the girls.

mochumi! represent!

since the activity ended earlier than we had all planned, and it was ridiculously hot outside, i treated the girls to some raspadillas. basically, snowcones with homemade syrups and the shaved ice is done by hand from blocks of ice.

the girls with their raspadillas. all and all, we had a really fun day!

Tagged peace corps, peru

17/02/2013

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ceviche, friendship, happiness, puerto eten

anna howard shaw day.

thursday marked my first valentine’s day in peru. here in peru, it is also dia de la amistad (day of friendship). so a few other volunteers and i decided to get together and spend the day at the beach, since 3 of us had valentine’s that we could not celebrate with. however, that did not leave me without surprises, which made me the luckiest girl at least out of our group, but i am just going to say in the whole world. the volunteers were coordinated to show up with flowers or balloons for me to receive from them throughout the day, and then lunch was taken care of, which made all the other volunteers extremely happy. at first it caught me by surprise and i didn’t believe and thought it all to be a joke, but then each time my heart kept melting. the best part though was that i was able to share my valentine’s with everyone, and we were all able to partake in the happiness.

i came out of the bathroom, and all the volunteers set up their balloons and flowers for me. ha.
ps. the balloons are SUPER popular here for valentine’s. there were people selling them everywhere.

the post-lunch damage. ceviche, arroz con mariscos, tortillas de choclo, papas fritas, camote fritos, pisco sours, and a 1/2 jar of fresh mango juice for me. needless to say, we were all quite full after.

we then spent a couple of hours at the beach in puerto eten. and i was able to boogie board!

Tagged food, friendship, peace corps, people, peru, restaurants, valentines

perusing peru…

…through the eyes of a peace corps volunteer.

Category Archives: friendship

chaparri!

una noche en el campo.

home. +1.

(girl)friends.

the great may escape.

(b)earth day.

taking over the sierra.

farewell to samuel (read: sam-well).

campeonata.

anna howard shaw day.

…through the eyes of a peace corps volunteer.

Category Archives: friendship

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