day 43: ANCASH IS BETTER

so this week was insane in the membrane. all of us went to field based training and my TAPs group got lucky and landed in ancash.

can i just say, i've been hoping to be stationed in ancash since week 3?
so i'm really hoping that's gonna happen because this week basically confirmed that i'm in love with the sierra. i mean, to be honest, i don't give a number 7 where i get placed, but i absolutely loved my time there. let's do a quick recap of what happened this week.

SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAYwent to lima, got onto a sweet bus with a reclining seat, passed out and woke up to see ANCASH out my window. awesome. had a panel of volunteers show up and do a q&a session. ran around huaraz on a scavenger hunt and discovered that my favorite ice cream flavor is currently holding at maracuya (passionfruit).

MONDAY

taught english at the PCV's site and ate cuy. CUY I SAY! that's right, i

saw some dead giant rodents and then ate them.

let's pretend i said that in a really awesome way that made that sound delicious. like... the PCV's host family prepared a dish known as "cuy," a cultural highlight that is a quintessential peruvian dish involving home raised guinea pigs, fed on the tears of unicorns and fairy dust, which are then lulled to sleep by 100 crickets synchronizing to beethoven's symphony number 293847234. they are then dressed and fried to a golden crisp, placed on a bed of potatoes from the garden of Eden and devoured.

TUESDAY
went to tumpa and taught kids to wash their hands!

the song goes:

lava tus manos (lava tus manos)
antes de comer (antes de comer)
entre de los dedos (entre de los dedos)
para buena salud (para buena salud)

sing to the tune of frere jacques

later went to amashca to another site and played volleyball (note to self: los payasos en la casa!!!)/sociodrama (nts: huahua) which was amazing. can i just say, i'm falling in love with sociodramas? play acting is so much fun, especially when you just do it with reckless abandon. that's what she said. also, i'm getting so much better at volleyball! but i'd rather improve my soccer skills and i think it would be a test of my ability if i could kick the ball around without having to stare at my feet. it's no fun running into people/things because i can't figure out how to dribble and look around at the same time.

also, i went running in the morning and 5 minutes in this altitude results in me gasping for air like a fish out of water. it feels amazing.

WEDNESDAY
went to caraz and stayed there for 2 nights. i believe this was the day we did pasos adelante with the parents at another PCV's site and it was truly inspiring. more sociodramas, of course, but it was 3 hours long and felt like way less. time really does fly wh

en you cram as much as you can possibly do during one meeting. seriously though, i was crazy inspired. and then later that night, we went on a crazy ferris wheel of caged hamster ball death.

yea. go ahead and let that marinate in your head a little bit. got it? it was exactly what you're thinking.

THURSDAY

went to my PC mentor's site and did an amazing sociodrama cause the electricity went out and she couldn't show the video she has originally planned to do. turned out to be the greatest thing ever. once i get the video, i will post it. watch and be amazed.

FRIDAY

got to see other PCV's site and played with a bunch of kids! so cute! but before that, this was the day i completed an ancash tradition of jumping into a glacial lake. except who has time to pack for such an occasion? so clothes came off and BAM. freezing water. it actually wasn't that bad, once the numbing took hold, and it really was a gorgeous view. unfortunately, i took my wet underwear and put it in a bag. yes, this did mean i went commando for the rest of the day, but what sucked is that when we got out of the combi (basically, a big bus van), i left the bag behind by accident :( sad face, indeed.

sorry, underwear adventure wasn't as exciting as you may have imagined, but i was sad because i only have so many articles of clothing and losing them makes me sad. but now it's weird because a combi guy has my underwear... womp womp. awkward.

SATURDAY

last day in ancash. SO SAD. went around to different universities with a group of youth and basically did what most people do in the states- sit around and listen to colleges give their talks about their universities and their stats, and get brochures and some free pens. it was interesting to learn about the school system in peru because it's rather different from the states.

for example, when i tell people that i studied psychology in school, many people believe i am a psychologist because that's how it is here. you study for roughly 5 years and you receive your license and what not to become a psychologist. the system is much more focused, right off the bat, on what it is that you plan on doing. it's interesting but i have to keep explaining to people that i can't work as a psychologist, diagnosing people, because i am NOT a psychologist.

TODAY

so i'm pretty sure a lot of those aren't the days that things actually occurred, but it's all good. i'm in love with ancash, i've got a bit of quechua learned, and more than anything: i'm so inspired by all the PCVs and their projects, i can't friggin wait until i'm on site and doing something with my life.

peace.