Thursday, December 22, 2011

day 194: update before xmas time

Sup amigitos,

So, guess what happens in Peru in December?

Nothing.

Seriously. Nothing.

Everything feels like it's shut down. Classes have ended, kids have graduated, and people are just all around preparing for Christmas. All I've done this month is party. No joke. I've been partying like it's my job... actually, I think it is my job. I went to a graduation (party until 5:30am at the school), had my birthday (4 or 5 solid days of party, I don't even know anymore), have gone to chocolotadas (like christmas on crack- lots of dancing, drinking hot chocolate, eating panetón, presents galore), and parties with my comisión... It's insane!

But yes yes, I am a volunteer here to work so I've also been trying to get some stuff done. I've brought up my ideas to the comisión, when we had a meeting as opposed to a party, and am excited to say that a number of them seemed to be intrigued with my ideas- we'll see how far that goes. I'm also speaking with a lawyer here about an idea he has for forming committees committed against violence (family and sexual) that we're hoping to have implemented in the schools next year. I have spoken with English teachers about starting a club for them to practice speaking, and the only thing I have left to do on my list is get the courage to go to the health post and ask them about their activities with youth.

It's the one thing I actually wish I were doing right now, and the only thing I have yet done... that's no good.

But that's just something to add to my growing list of new years resolutions! Wanna know what they are? Here's some:

1. p90x is so happening. I got my resistance band from home (p.s. I went to serpost the other day and got a supermegaawesome package from my family... so worth the hour long wait at the post office, listening to some sort of jingle bells ringtone on repeat...)

2. improve my spanish... I still haven't been practicing my subjunctives as much as I know that I should...

3. GET THEE TO THE HEALTH POST damn it.

4. get my projects a movin' movin'... MOVIN'! these include: resolution #3, youth groups on family violence, finding a place for a youth center, promoting literature and the library, working with my youth group at the church (i.e. make it not religious affiliated, and get the kids to realize it), working with my comisión on various topics like sports and environment, getting my alcalde more invested in my projects, etc.

5. save money... I'm bad at this, but I should probably work on not being flat out broke every month...

6. cut out carbs, as much as possible. It's impossible to cut out all carbs in Peru, but I'm going to try and get rid of bread and rice as much as possible. I think this might also mean, no more snacking... although that would also probably help with resolution #5.

7. apply for some MHA programs... and get in... eep. I'm actually looking forward to going back to school after my 2 years here, if only because it would be the fastest way to get more info, so that I can leave and get back out in the world and do stuff. I like this doing stuff. It's so much better than the previous sit around and learn useless info that clutters up space in my brain because I'm not doing anything with it except learning and memorizing for the sake of knowing... stuff.

aaannnddd so much more, but I don't feel like I should list every single one of them in here. So yea, I'm going to try for these and hopefully by this time next year, I can report back with stories of success... That is, assuming I'm not dead because the world has exploded into some massive fire mess of an explosion. Let's really hope not!

.................................. dude, so I walked away from this blog post real quick because the local soccer teams are having their big final showdown game tonight, and they're playing in the coliseo. It's all cement and they're playing on a court that looks smaller than a basketball court. First prize is a lamb, second is a goat, and third is a turkey. All of them are tied up and just laying around until the game ends...

That is so much more legit than a trophy. I never want a trophy again. If I ever compete, I am going to demand the sacrifice of a small, baby lamb instead of a cheap plastic trophy. Serious.

Alright, that's all for now. I'm gonna go have some morning cake (so much cake...) with my coffee, and maybe a panetón and some hot chocolate later tonight. Gotta do some document reading and teach my english class at the beneficencia too. Not much else... probably read (I've been dominating a book every day/every other day, depending on the length of the book, for the past week now. It's awesome. Feels like middle school, without all the horrors and awfulness of middle school.)

I'll probably reblog in the new year! Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you're all enjoying the winter/summer/whatever season it is, wherever you are, and here's to a FANTASTIC 2012! May we all be alive this time, next year. That, or be prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

Peace and Love, y'all.
Peace and Love.




Monday, December 12, 2011

day 184: I'M 24 YEARS OLD!!

Damas y Caballeros,

I am another year older. At the young age of 23, I had no idea what this world was like. Having now turned 24, I can assure you that I've been zapped by the holy hand of all things religious and am a much wiser, more humble and all around awesome person. 

That, and I'm pretty sure I've been celebrating my birthday for an on going 3 days now. 

Saturday: I spent the day in Trujillo/Huanchaco running my usual errands (note to self: need to go back to Serpost this week, just to see if my mail gets in on time... I'm in correspondence with a school back in the states, doing a penpal thing with a class in my site, but classes end this Wednesday so I gotta get these letters before then or else...) and hanging out with a friend of mine. Later that night, there was an ugly sweater party with the volunteers that was fun, mostly because hanging out with volunteers is always nice :) The party moved onto the bars, and I got to meet a few 18ers for the first time (p.s. love them!) 

Sunday: I went back to site, just in time for a lunch that was collaborated between my family and another. My host mom prepared my favorite meal of ceviche with tons and tons of wonderfully acidic lime juice, and the other family killed a goat for some cabrito, rice and beans. Just the sheer amount of food was enough to put me in a food coma, but that on top of the little sleep I got from the night before had me 3 seconds from passing out and possibly dying for a little bit. My host family warned me that I had to get my energy up because there would be much dancing and singing and rejoicing later that night, possibly at the clubs that exist (that I have yet to go to). Thankfully, the peruvian hour kicked in and everyone was dragging their feet about it all and by the time people were setting to leave, my host parents mandated that we couldn't go because the next day was a school day and the kids needed to go to bed. So I managed to sneak back into my room and pass out for a good 7 solid hours of sleep. 

Monday: I got up and oh boy, was I not feeling so hot... You'd think getting some sleep would have put me into tip top shape, but something had not agreed with me the day before... possibly the mountain of raw fish and slaughtered goat... in any case, I stayed in bed for the most part and gave some people a call, letting them now of my delicate state. However, what to do? There was a party being held for me by the committee I work with in the municipality. Thankfully, it started at night and I had all day to try and get better quickly. Downing hot tea and popping pills like mints eventually did the trick and I managed to get myself out of bed and to the meeting. The party wasn't rowdy (no hora loca, thank the dear baby jesus) and I didn't get caked shoved into my face or eggs smashed into my hair- it was, for the most part, pretty boring. Not in a bad way, mind, but it was perfect for the level of ability my body was currently in. Soon, though, we sat down and each person gave a small speech about me- basically, everyone in the room sat around flattering me. It was kind of awesome. That eventually moved on to jokes, and quickly became super raunchy jokes. It was getting really late and of course, that just meant more guests as the night policemen (they drive around site, I really don't know why or how often but they happened to be out and about tonight) came in. They were dressed in black (pants, jackets, sweaters, beanies, combat boots) and each of them had a shiny black shotgun strapped to their backs. But this was a relaxed occasion, so they put their guns down, grabbed a nice slice of pink birthday cake, and settled down to tell their own raunchy jokes and to listen to the others complain about the state of policemen in site. 

It was kind of weird.

But hey! It was also pretty cool. They later drove all the women to their individual locations (deeming it unsafe for us to walk alone, which was quite kind of them, actually) and now I am here, sitting in front of my computer, trying to plan for tomorrow. Sadly, I still feel mildly ill and I think the medication is starting to wear off... ah well, I'll just be sleeping so whatever.

Tomorrow is a day of travel for me. I have to get back to serpost in Trujillo to see if those letters have arrived since Wednesday is the last day I'll have a chance to get these letters to the girls. I am also hoping to make a run to another volunteer's site to help her with an english singing competition that's going down, plus to indulge in a little more bday celebrating. In between this time, I have to meet with a local lawyer here to discuss an idea of his for a youth committee sector about family and sexual violence. It's gonna be another interesting day! 

Well, that was just a quick update on my life. I think I'm going to start adding links to my friends' websites as well- a bunch of them are fantastic writers and have me laughing like a madwoman everytime I read their blogs. Seriously, hysterical. 

Alright, that's all for know. I'm hoping to get a few hours of sleep tonight before I go running around again! Love you all tons and tons and TONS! and for all those who sent me stuff for my bday... you should know that you're basically my favorite people in the entire world... if you didn't... well, there's always christmas >:P heheheh, kidding! just kidding!! LOVE YOU ALL!

Peace and Love, y'all
<3

Saturday, December 3, 2011

day 175: BOOM! DONE WITH THE DIAGNOSTIC!

hola amig@s!

Fun fact, when a spanish word is written with an @ at the end, it signifies a/o (since spanish has feminine and masculine words, and feminine words traditionally end in the letter 'a' while masculine ends in 'o', the @ is a combo of the 'a' and the 'o' to indicate a gender neutral term!)

Anywhoozles, I just got back from celebrating Thanksgiving in Huanchaco and EIST (early in service training) in Olmos, Lambayeque.

Thanksgiving was a BLAST. I was simultaneously exhausted and so happy/relaxed, it made me feel like I was in another world. On Thursday, the 17ers and I met up in Trujillo where we spent the day chilling out. I went with a few girls to see Chan Chan, an archaeological site of Chimu and Moche ruins that was really cool. The ruins are constructed of adobe, so all that really remains is one of the citadels... although the others can be seen from an aerial view but only the basic architecture. It was really cool how we were able to walk around and touch a lot of what existed, although some of it was covered in tarp because it was starting to drizzle a bit and rain + adobe = mud...

Besides that, the rest of the day was spent eating, drinking, and dancing. A lot of people took a walk around Trujillo to take in what really is quite a beautiful city. We spent a lot of time on the roof/patio area at the hostal, just sitting around and talking. I took a shot or more of cañaso, which is an alcoholic beverage derived of sugar cane... and no, it does not taste of sugar cane... I'm pretty sure it could be rocket fuel. It's vile in flavor, but it warms you up real fast...

Friday was spend in Huanchaco! My favorite place in La Libertad (outside of my site, of course). Lots of beach lounging, eating some amazing fantastic food, hammock napping, and internet use was done this day. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday, which came down to 3 hours shopping at Tottus, 2 hours frantically cleaning/cutting/peeling/preparing dishes and 2 hours in the kitchen with the oven. A turkey would have been way too pricey, so we went with pollo a la brasa which worked out really well. In the end, we had so much food I thought we might all explode. The food was given away to neighboring hostal users and people in the street, although it was sorely missed the next morning when leftovers would have been fantastic as a hangover cure.

Finally on Sunday, we all packed up our things and headed to Lambayeque for training. Training was held in Olmos, located about 2 hours from the capital city of Chiclayo. It was great because a few of the 17ers weren't able to come to Thanksgiving, so I could see their lovely faces for almost a week! During the week, we got charlas on various things, like our first 10 weeks of training but more focused on reviewing a few things and sharing charlas that we could ourselves give/do in our sites. We also presented that diagnostic.

That. Freakin. Diagnostic.

IT'S DONE! DONE DONE DONE DONE DOOOOONNNEEEE.

That's all I have to say about that. We presented ours briefly before turning in the CDs, and I sincerely hope mine is satisfactory so that I never have to look at it again. Well, that's a lie- I'm supposed to present it to my site sometime in the future. However, I'm trying to think about how exactly I would present it to my site and I just don't see how it would be conducive or even plausible to get everyone together for a presentation. For this site, I believe it would be much better if I just took the time to talk to people, one on one, to see if I can also possible get a few more people to become my socios. I need socios to work together on these projects, since they are supposed to be sustainable, but I'm starting to get worried about this... Ah well, I do have a few now who are just wonderful (e.g. a professor at one of the schools I'm working in, and my host mom) and I hope we can keep working together!

Last Thursday was the international day of HIV/AIDS awareness and we helped the PCV in Olmos with a big project thing he had going on. It involved a stage and a bunch of presentations, of which the 17ers were a part of. We were in 3 groups and each of us did something- a rap song about using condoms (¿por que? no quiero bebe, ¿por que? no quiero VIH, ¿por que? quiero protegerme!), a song given by my buddy Zack in a condom outfit on the ABCs of protection (A! Abstinencia, B! Brindar Fidelidad, C! Si vas a hacerlo, ponte un Condón!), and finally, my group- Último Pasajeros, edición VIH. This basically involved a lot of screaming, jumping around, and getting the people in the crowd super pumped and screaming for TEAM ROJO (my team. we won. yea we did.)

Hilarious. I had an awesome time.

The next day, the groups split up to go to different places. My group stayed in Olmos and we gave charlas to 3 classrooms where the PCV was teaching. The charlas were on self esteem as well as gender equality, and both were great but the gender equality one is definitely something I would like to do in my site.

Overall, it was a wonderful learning experience and I especially loved it because I love my 17ers so very, very much and it was just so amazing to be able to see all of them again! I can't wait until the next time we get to hang out together like that :)

On another note, there is a paro (a strike) in Cajamarca right now that's getting pretty serious and escalating into violence. This means that the volunteers in Cajamarca are on standby- the 17ers couldn't return to their sites after training and are currently waiting it out, trying to see what the situation is, in Chiclayo. According to the latest update I heard, they just recently let a few cars into Cajamarca with food and medicine and stuff, but only a limited number during specific hours... woah.

Hopefully they're alright and the strike does settle down so they can get back to site to do their thing.

Well, that's the latest update for now :) I'm back in site and just had some pollo a la brasa for dinner (thank goodness, I was craving it for the past 3 days and my host mom just surprises us with some! woot). I am crazy exhausted, since I didn't really sleep much during Thanksgiving (working on the diagnostic at night) or training (more diagnostic, plus chatting with my amazing buddy B about life and things) so now I am ready to just pass out and not wake up until my sleep debt has been paid in full.

Long post, but hopefully a good general outline to give you an idea of what's been up in my life lately!  Love and Peace to you all <3

p.s. my birthday is in a week. I'm so freaking PUMPED.