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.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, November 21, 2011
day 163: EIST next week, but Thanksgiving before then!
Hello my lovely readers!
So, my last blog post was super sad and a total debby downer, but I'll have you know that it's no longer so!
Well, sort of.
I got myself a weekend in Trujillo after hell week 2 and I'll just say... it added to the series of stories and experiences that I am slowly but surely collecting here in Perú. Seriously though, the States just feel so boring after all the craziness that has happened in my short time here! VIVA PERU.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this week! Sadly, it's the aniversario of my site on the day of Thanksgiving. Yes, I do want to celebrate my aniversario and a lot of people are super psyched about it here, but sadly I will be disappointing them. I love my site, I love the people here, but I really miss my friends...
Ah well, I'll celebrate the aniversario next year! It'll be fine~
But en serio, I'm mega pumped. Thanksgiving back home was all about family. It was the one time of the year that my entire family (or at least those who are in Cali) would meet up for food and drink, and just to be in each other's company. I associate Thanksgiving with family, so being thousands of miles away is hard. It sucked in college, but I think it'll suck less here.
In college, everyone left to go home. People lived close enough that they could drive or take the bus. I loved my family, but couldn't see spending money I didn't have for a plane ticket back. Thanksgiving was spent with those friends who were in the same situation as I was, and all of us were mildly miserable because of it.
Here, though, all of us are volunteers! We're here because we want to be (although cash might still be a part of that) and a whole bunch of us are gonna get together to create that family time among ourselves.
Good enough for me!
So I'm in the midst of planning our generally itinerary. Now entirely sure how much of that I'll be following myself, but I'm going to try my darn best.
Mostly I'm hoping that I'm not going to get to Thanksgiving totally ill because I'm not sleeping much, going outside, or eating well at the moment.
Kind of stressed. I still have this community diagnostic going on, but there are tons of things on my mind right now, and I am finding it really difficult to focus on collating data... I am still finding it difficult to even communicate what's on my mind. I've never been really good at that to begin with, anyway. I really enjoy talking to others and listening to their problems, but I just can't seem to do the same to others. I don't like unloading my thoughts and worries to burden others. I can't figure out why, especially because I highly encourage people to call me when they need an ear. For some reason, I can't seem to put... I don't know, would it be trust? Can I not trust others? That might be it.
I don't even know. I gotta work on that part of my life, probably.
Anyway, yea. So next week is training with the PC and I have to finish up my diagnostic for that. I just talked to someone today, actually, who mentioned that there's a jail that has been abandoned for almost 3 or so years now. I want to talk to the police station to ask what their plans are for that space. If they're going to renovate it, alright, but if there's no plan... I could totally aprovechar that space and start a kick ass youth center!
Wishful thinking, most likely. I doubt they'd let me just take such a huge, amazing open space... but a girl can dream, right?
Alright, back to the grind.
Exhausted but happy.
Love you all.
and Peace and Love!
So, my last blog post was super sad and a total debby downer, but I'll have you know that it's no longer so!
Well, sort of.
I got myself a weekend in Trujillo after hell week 2 and I'll just say... it added to the series of stories and experiences that I am slowly but surely collecting here in Perú. Seriously though, the States just feel so boring after all the craziness that has happened in my short time here! VIVA PERU.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this week! Sadly, it's the aniversario of my site on the day of Thanksgiving. Yes, I do want to celebrate my aniversario and a lot of people are super psyched about it here, but sadly I will be disappointing them. I love my site, I love the people here, but I really miss my friends...
Ah well, I'll celebrate the aniversario next year! It'll be fine~
But en serio, I'm mega pumped. Thanksgiving back home was all about family. It was the one time of the year that my entire family (or at least those who are in Cali) would meet up for food and drink, and just to be in each other's company. I associate Thanksgiving with family, so being thousands of miles away is hard. It sucked in college, but I think it'll suck less here.
In college, everyone left to go home. People lived close enough that they could drive or take the bus. I loved my family, but couldn't see spending money I didn't have for a plane ticket back. Thanksgiving was spent with those friends who were in the same situation as I was, and all of us were mildly miserable because of it.
Here, though, all of us are volunteers! We're here because we want to be (although cash might still be a part of that) and a whole bunch of us are gonna get together to create that family time among ourselves.
Good enough for me!
So I'm in the midst of planning our generally itinerary. Now entirely sure how much of that I'll be following myself, but I'm going to try my darn best.
Mostly I'm hoping that I'm not going to get to Thanksgiving totally ill because I'm not sleeping much, going outside, or eating well at the moment.
Kind of stressed. I still have this community diagnostic going on, but there are tons of things on my mind right now, and I am finding it really difficult to focus on collating data... I am still finding it difficult to even communicate what's on my mind. I've never been really good at that to begin with, anyway. I really enjoy talking to others and listening to their problems, but I just can't seem to do the same to others. I don't like unloading my thoughts and worries to burden others. I can't figure out why, especially because I highly encourage people to call me when they need an ear. For some reason, I can't seem to put... I don't know, would it be trust? Can I not trust others? That might be it.
I don't even know. I gotta work on that part of my life, probably.
Anyway, yea. So next week is training with the PC and I have to finish up my diagnostic for that. I just talked to someone today, actually, who mentioned that there's a jail that has been abandoned for almost 3 or so years now. I want to talk to the police station to ask what their plans are for that space. If they're going to renovate it, alright, but if there's no plan... I could totally aprovechar that space and start a kick ass youth center!
Wishful thinking, most likely. I doubt they'd let me just take such a huge, amazing open space... but a girl can dream, right?
Alright, back to the grind.
Exhausted but happy.
Love you all.
and Peace and Love!
Monday, November 14, 2011
day 156: crashing and burning... oh the humanity...
Last weekend, a volunteer in my province held a youth camp for kids from all over. There were more or less 40 kids being kids for 3 days and 2 nights. They were given various lectures and workshops, and a lot of fun stuff was thrown into the mix, and being a whole bunch of adolescents camping together, they were surprisingly well behaved.
More or less.
Last week, however, was super stressful for me. I was not only trying to get stuff done for my community diagnostic, but I also had my site visit (director of the youth program in Peru came to visit my site and observe me. She's super chill and the visit went really well, but doesn't mean having my boss visit me at work and home wasn't stressful!), I was trying to get everything ready for this camp (I found out the Sunday before that this camp was actually happening and had less than a few days to go to my municipality and ask for money for the camp, talk to the kids who were interested in the camp, talk to their parents, deal with kids calling and not calling, deal with kids not going and finding other kids who were interested in going, run around like a chicken with its head cut off, talk to the local bakery to see if they would be willing to donate bread, and so on... it was just god awful... but it got done!), and I was asked to teach at a second school all week, adding to my teaching already in another school and the comedor. On top of that, I had my normal weekly things, like meetings and such, so yea...
I was seconds from screaming and all it seemed that everyone else was doing was either adding to my pile of work or just disappointing me with bad news.
Still, the camp was a success (my emotions got the better of me for a moment there and there were about 5 seconds worth of tears, but I got my act under control pretty quickly) because it seems like the kids learned a lot and benefited from their time away from their homes, and in the company of new friends. The kids who went with me from my site have asked me to tell the other kids HELLO! but I have no idea who these other kids really are... so I just told them that yea, I totally would... pretty sure I'm totally not.
This week is round 2 of my most stressful week in my time in Peru. It kind of sucks that my 2 most stressful weeks are one right after the other, with a weekend of work instead of rest in between. I am definitely feelings its effects too. On top of that, this is the week before the week of Thanksgiving, which means a whooollleee lot of disappointment and frustration are going to be headed my way (I've made reservations for all the volunteers who are going to come up for thanksgiving, but I've already had a whole bunch cancel on me during stressful week round 1, and already more are cancelling this stressful week round 2. I expected it, though, so at least I have that... ah well, at least a ton of people I really miss are still coming up! So I'll still get a family that I love to be with during this Thnxgiving).
I think I really need a drink.
I've also more or less given up on NaNoWriMo. I just can't do it. There's too much going on right now, and none of it feels very good anymore. It would be pretty awesome to finish, but I have to get my priorities straight.
But I can truly say that right now, I am not happy. It's not a good feeling, and something I'm definitely not used to, and I just feel terrible... I don't think I deal with unhappiness very well. It's as if I can't just feel upset or sad, I have to feel intensely depressed. I have so much to do right now, but it took almost all of my energy to just get out of bed this morning. I have zero patience for anyone, and I was teaching English at the comedor and when it hit 5, class was over but the activity wasn't. The kids, however, weren't paying attention so I just grabbed my things and left. No goodbyes, no threats, nothing. I just grabbed my things and walked out because I was too tired to try calming them down so that we could finish what we were doing. I went home and tried to watch cartoons, which usually make me feel better, but ended up passing out in bed until my alarm (thank God I set it) woke me up for a meeting, which was 2 annoying hours long and I was squirming/falling asleep through the entire thing. My host mom goes to these meetings with me and she was just making everything take longer than it should, which she normally does, and when she asked me to go with her and another person because they needed to do stuff, I just looked at her and went "no."
Well, not entirely, I did explain that I was exhausted and needed to sleep. But still, I have lost all patience with people. Whenever it feels like someone's wasting my time, all I can think is, "I hate you" and nothing else. Because of this, I've had this continuous headache too. Well, the headache started last Friday, but I've been medicating myself steadily with ibuprofen and acetaminophen- definitely not good, but the only way I'm gonna get through the day.
Bah. All I do is complain. Sorry about that. Just needed to jot this down before bed, or else it would have plagued me all night. Now I'm going to go and pass out for a few hours before I wake up again and teach some more.
Great.
Love and Peace. I'm gonna need some more of those.
More or less.
Last week, however, was super stressful for me. I was not only trying to get stuff done for my community diagnostic, but I also had my site visit (director of the youth program in Peru came to visit my site and observe me. She's super chill and the visit went really well, but doesn't mean having my boss visit me at work and home wasn't stressful!), I was trying to get everything ready for this camp (I found out the Sunday before that this camp was actually happening and had less than a few days to go to my municipality and ask for money for the camp, talk to the kids who were interested in the camp, talk to their parents, deal with kids calling and not calling, deal with kids not going and finding other kids who were interested in going, run around like a chicken with its head cut off, talk to the local bakery to see if they would be willing to donate bread, and so on... it was just god awful... but it got done!), and I was asked to teach at a second school all week, adding to my teaching already in another school and the comedor. On top of that, I had my normal weekly things, like meetings and such, so yea...
I was seconds from screaming and all it seemed that everyone else was doing was either adding to my pile of work or just disappointing me with bad news.
Still, the camp was a success (my emotions got the better of me for a moment there and there were about 5 seconds worth of tears, but I got my act under control pretty quickly) because it seems like the kids learned a lot and benefited from their time away from their homes, and in the company of new friends. The kids who went with me from my site have asked me to tell the other kids HELLO! but I have no idea who these other kids really are... so I just told them that yea, I totally would... pretty sure I'm totally not.
This week is round 2 of my most stressful week in my time in Peru. It kind of sucks that my 2 most stressful weeks are one right after the other, with a weekend of work instead of rest in between. I am definitely feelings its effects too. On top of that, this is the week before the week of Thanksgiving, which means a whooollleee lot of disappointment and frustration are going to be headed my way (I've made reservations for all the volunteers who are going to come up for thanksgiving, but I've already had a whole bunch cancel on me during stressful week round 1, and already more are cancelling this stressful week round 2. I expected it, though, so at least I have that... ah well, at least a ton of people I really miss are still coming up! So I'll still get a family that I love to be with during this Thnxgiving).
I think I really need a drink.
I've also more or less given up on NaNoWriMo. I just can't do it. There's too much going on right now, and none of it feels very good anymore. It would be pretty awesome to finish, but I have to get my priorities straight.
But I can truly say that right now, I am not happy. It's not a good feeling, and something I'm definitely not used to, and I just feel terrible... I don't think I deal with unhappiness very well. It's as if I can't just feel upset or sad, I have to feel intensely depressed. I have so much to do right now, but it took almost all of my energy to just get out of bed this morning. I have zero patience for anyone, and I was teaching English at the comedor and when it hit 5, class was over but the activity wasn't. The kids, however, weren't paying attention so I just grabbed my things and left. No goodbyes, no threats, nothing. I just grabbed my things and walked out because I was too tired to try calming them down so that we could finish what we were doing. I went home and tried to watch cartoons, which usually make me feel better, but ended up passing out in bed until my alarm (thank God I set it) woke me up for a meeting, which was 2 annoying hours long and I was squirming/falling asleep through the entire thing. My host mom goes to these meetings with me and she was just making everything take longer than it should, which she normally does, and when she asked me to go with her and another person because they needed to do stuff, I just looked at her and went "no."
Well, not entirely, I did explain that I was exhausted and needed to sleep. But still, I have lost all patience with people. Whenever it feels like someone's wasting my time, all I can think is, "I hate you" and nothing else. Because of this, I've had this continuous headache too. Well, the headache started last Friday, but I've been medicating myself steadily with ibuprofen and acetaminophen- definitely not good, but the only way I'm gonna get through the day.
Bah. All I do is complain. Sorry about that. Just needed to jot this down before bed, or else it would have plagued me all night. Now I'm going to go and pass out for a few hours before I wake up again and teach some more.
Great.
Love and Peace. I'm gonna need some more of those.
Monday, November 7, 2011
day 149: i'm procrastinating. it's what i do.
Second post of the day, simply because I'm procrastinating and not doing any of the things I'm supposed to be doing.
Like my community diagnostic.
Womp womp.
It's just that there's a big difference between what I want to do and what I have to do. When those things don't match up, usually want trumps have. This is probably the reason why my GPA went dooowwwn the drain in college.
Yes, Professor. I do understand that this will be on the exam. Have I learned it? No, it's boring. I did, however, really enjoy this other part that is probably going to be maybe 1 question. But I know it super well. Is that alright? You're gonna fail me? So I guess it wasn't alright. Ok then.
Ah well.
Speaking of grades, I've been thinking about my future after Peace Corps.
Yea, yea, I've only been here for like 2 months now, but still. I can't help but wonder what I'm going to be like, what my LIFE is going to be like afterwards.
What do I want? Well, when I was in college, I wanted to be a doctor. I was taking all the prerequisite classes, doing all those things that soon to be doctors are supposed to during their undergrad and then... well, and then I realized I really didn't enjoy a lot of those classes, my grades were crashing and burning, and I just didn't know WHY I was trying to be a doctor.
I realized, I really enjoy the field of health- people fascinate me, hospitals fascinate me, but I just really didn't understand it and a lot of things didn't seem to work, but I couldn't understand why.
So instead of trying to apply to medical school and jumping through loop after loop after loop, I am trying to find another way to do what I want to do in life- help people.
It's why I joined the Peace Corps. Well, that's a lie. I joined because I wanted to go and DO something. I spent years of my life, sitting under fluorescent lights and listening to teachers go on and on about how other people have done and were doing these amazing things. Sometimes, I was challenged to think. Other times, I was challenged to remember copious amounts of information that meant nothing to me and then word vomit them back onto paper or some exam.
I'm not ragging on teachers, mind you. They deserve all the praise in the world, and more. (Also, more money. Teachers, like good high school teachers, should be paid tons more) Had it not been for all the influential teachers in my life, I would never have made this decision to be where I am right now. It's just that after a while, being given copious amounts of information without actually USING any of it... it gets tiring. And I got tired pretty quickly. Somewhere around my sophmore/junior year, I realized- this sucks. I love school, I love learning, but what the hell am I going to do with all this information now in my head? I'm going to learn it, appreciate it for a moment, repeat everything you just told me back to you to prove that I read it, and then... and then I'm going to forget it next year because I'm doing all of this all over again.
So I just gave up on the repetition part. I learned it, retained what I found interesting and what I believed would be useful to me later in life, and forgot the rest. I took classes just to see if I might like it, and if I didn't? Finished it anyway and failed miserably. But you know what? It was an experience. I managed to expose myself to subjects I didn't need to do, because my major didn't require it. But who cares if my major required it or not? I would never have the opportunity to take these courses again, so I might as well take them.
That's what college was for me. An experience. It was a chance to just listen to what people had to say, to learn more about things that simply existed in this world. It didn't matter to me if I learned it or not. I don't read books to memorize every line, page by page. I read for pleasure. I get the general idea of a story, and I move on with my life. Sometimes these stories come back to me and I can apply them to a situation. My classes were just like books to me.
It's also why my grades took a plunge and went diving off the deep end. I probably should have taken easier classes (why'd I take Linear Algebra my senior year? I asked myself the same question. I answered, why not?) and fewer credits (minimum credits needed per semester was 12, the average was 15, I took 22... again, why? because I wasn't there to be scored, I was there to experience. Oh, and why not?) but I didn't. I wasn't being a smart premed kid, strategically working the system to get that allusive 4.0. Oh no, I was being... well, being me.
Being me never really works out all that well.
Anyway, now I'm trying to figure out what I want in life, and I realize that I want more schooling.
I know, right? wtf.
But seriously, I want to go back to school. Not to be a doctor, but to continue working in the field of health. I want to pursue a Masters in Hospital Administration (MHA). It's like the business aspect of health, if you want the short version of it.
I really like organizing things. I'm a big picture kind of person. And I'm still curious about how the health system works, and why parts of it don't seem to work.
Beyond that? I know nothing. I want to know more.
Sadly, I'm pretty sure my GPA's going to keep me out of most schools. Still, I guess I'm hoping at least someone will take a chance on me. We'll see. We'll hope and pray as well.
IN OTHER NEWS I'm at 7.3k words in nanowrimo, thanks to an empty saturday. It's 10pm and I still haven't organized my survey results. Woops. Gotta get on that.
Hope all is well on your end of the world, dear friend.
Love and Peace.
Sincerely,
Sue
(that's my nanowrimo name, btw. If you're participating, add me: sincerely_sue)
Like my community diagnostic.
Womp womp.
It's just that there's a big difference between what I want to do and what I have to do. When those things don't match up, usually want trumps have. This is probably the reason why my GPA went dooowwwn the drain in college.
Yes, Professor. I do understand that this will be on the exam. Have I learned it? No, it's boring. I did, however, really enjoy this other part that is probably going to be maybe 1 question. But I know it super well. Is that alright? You're gonna fail me? So I guess it wasn't alright. Ok then.
Ah well.
Speaking of grades, I've been thinking about my future after Peace Corps.
Yea, yea, I've only been here for like 2 months now, but still. I can't help but wonder what I'm going to be like, what my LIFE is going to be like afterwards.
What do I want? Well, when I was in college, I wanted to be a doctor. I was taking all the prerequisite classes, doing all those things that soon to be doctors are supposed to during their undergrad and then... well, and then I realized I really didn't enjoy a lot of those classes, my grades were crashing and burning, and I just didn't know WHY I was trying to be a doctor.
I realized, I really enjoy the field of health- people fascinate me, hospitals fascinate me, but I just really didn't understand it and a lot of things didn't seem to work, but I couldn't understand why.
So instead of trying to apply to medical school and jumping through loop after loop after loop, I am trying to find another way to do what I want to do in life- help people.
It's why I joined the Peace Corps. Well, that's a lie. I joined because I wanted to go and DO something. I spent years of my life, sitting under fluorescent lights and listening to teachers go on and on about how other people have done and were doing these amazing things. Sometimes, I was challenged to think. Other times, I was challenged to remember copious amounts of information that meant nothing to me and then word vomit them back onto paper or some exam.
I'm not ragging on teachers, mind you. They deserve all the praise in the world, and more. (Also, more money. Teachers, like good high school teachers, should be paid tons more) Had it not been for all the influential teachers in my life, I would never have made this decision to be where I am right now. It's just that after a while, being given copious amounts of information without actually USING any of it... it gets tiring. And I got tired pretty quickly. Somewhere around my sophmore/junior year, I realized- this sucks. I love school, I love learning, but what the hell am I going to do with all this information now in my head? I'm going to learn it, appreciate it for a moment, repeat everything you just told me back to you to prove that I read it, and then... and then I'm going to forget it next year because I'm doing all of this all over again.
So I just gave up on the repetition part. I learned it, retained what I found interesting and what I believed would be useful to me later in life, and forgot the rest. I took classes just to see if I might like it, and if I didn't? Finished it anyway and failed miserably. But you know what? It was an experience. I managed to expose myself to subjects I didn't need to do, because my major didn't require it. But who cares if my major required it or not? I would never have the opportunity to take these courses again, so I might as well take them.
That's what college was for me. An experience. It was a chance to just listen to what people had to say, to learn more about things that simply existed in this world. It didn't matter to me if I learned it or not. I don't read books to memorize every line, page by page. I read for pleasure. I get the general idea of a story, and I move on with my life. Sometimes these stories come back to me and I can apply them to a situation. My classes were just like books to me.
It's also why my grades took a plunge and went diving off the deep end. I probably should have taken easier classes (why'd I take Linear Algebra my senior year? I asked myself the same question. I answered, why not?) and fewer credits (minimum credits needed per semester was 12, the average was 15, I took 22... again, why? because I wasn't there to be scored, I was there to experience. Oh, and why not?) but I didn't. I wasn't being a smart premed kid, strategically working the system to get that allusive 4.0. Oh no, I was being... well, being me.
Being me never really works out all that well.
Anyway, now I'm trying to figure out what I want in life, and I realize that I want more schooling.
I know, right? wtf.
But seriously, I want to go back to school. Not to be a doctor, but to continue working in the field of health. I want to pursue a Masters in Hospital Administration (MHA). It's like the business aspect of health, if you want the short version of it.
I really like organizing things. I'm a big picture kind of person. And I'm still curious about how the health system works, and why parts of it don't seem to work.
Beyond that? I know nothing. I want to know more.
Sadly, I'm pretty sure my GPA's going to keep me out of most schools. Still, I guess I'm hoping at least someone will take a chance on me. We'll see. We'll hope and pray as well.
IN OTHER NEWS I'm at 7.3k words in nanowrimo, thanks to an empty saturday. It's 10pm and I still haven't organized my survey results. Woops. Gotta get on that.
Hope all is well on your end of the world, dear friend.
Love and Peace.
Sincerely,
Sue
(that's my nanowrimo name, btw. If you're participating, add me: sincerely_sue)
day 149: get baked (no really, like a cookie or something)
Dear friends,
I am having some major withdrawal. No, not from the usual vices that you may be thinking of (e.g. sex, drugs, rock and roll) but from something that I used to do so much more often back in the states:
Baking.
I love baking. Pies, cakes, scones, cupcakes, cookies, bread, all of it (check out my fb photos if you want some step by step instructions of delicious things I have baked. They're easy steps and you'll totally love me for the recipes). If it goes in the oven, I want to try my hand at it. Which is why, now that I'm living in a house with no oven, I am finding myself rolling around the floor in angst.
What's worse is that it's FALL. It's prime baking season, people. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas- these three months are my favorite because it gave me a chance to bake as much as I wanted without a shortage of ingredients in the stores (spices are always well stocked, as are canned pumpkin puree and molasses).
Now I'm in Peru, where most people celebrate Día de la Canción Criolla instead of Halloween and Thanksgiving doesn't happen. I HAVE TO WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS, which is one of my favorites so at least I've got that. Plus, my site is pretty Catholic so it should be tons of fun.
Still, I need an oven. There are these 'bubble ovens' that exist around here. They're electric, the temperature can't be controlled, but it offers heat! In an enclosed space! That's all I need! Now where to find it...
Tricky.
I'll have to keep looking, I guess.
Another thing I can't find are ingredients. You know baking soda? That thing you buy in an orange box with that bald dude on it? That thing you put in your fridge a few years back and totally forgot about because you don't use it that often and whatever, it's cheap? Yea, you have to buy those in these tiny, mildly expensive packages at the pharmacy here. If I want to bake a cookie, I need to go to the pharmacy. For serious.
All I want to do is bake. I want to cut cold butter (also kind of difficult to find here. It's all spreadable margarine. I don't like margarine. It's crap.) into flour. I want to let dough rise in a warm area. I want to roll out pastry dough. I want to let berries macerate in sugar. I want to whisk butter and sugar until fluffy. I want to glaze things.
I just wanna bake...
SIGH.
So yea, I'm always begging people for letters and packages (to be quite frank, I get really really jealous of other volunteers here who seem to get a package of assorted goods almost every week. I understand why my friends don't send them, since a lot of y'all are working to make a living and sending me a package is too much of a pricey burden, plus when people ask, I don't encourage them to send me things because they could probably use that cash to do other things but that doesn't stop me from being really sad and jealous and really really really wanting ppl to send those packages anyway...)
But for serious. I like getting packages. I know, it seems silly for me to be that ecstatic about getting some candy or spices or baking stuff (like a whisk? anyone?) in the mail, but I DO. And I honestly appreciate it so very, freakin much...
Bah, but it's not necessary. Don't send me anything. Maybe a letter, because I do love letters. Or do? Send me a package! NO don't do that.
Do or don't, I guess is the message...
brought to you by my ever conflicted brain.
Ah well, sorry for turning this blog entry into a begging festival. Won't happen again. Thanks for reading though :) I laugh a lot when I check my blog stats and I'm getting random people from like Russia sent to my blog from some weird website. So for that:
Добро пожаловать на мой блог!
Thank you google translate.
Anyway, hope you weren't too annoyed by my silly plea for unnecessary things. Guess I've just been kind of stressed and lonely lately, and packages and letters are a nice reminder that someone back in the states still remembers that I'm here : /
Hey, also, remember that part? That I'm in Peru? Yea, I totally am. Again, send me your address and I'll write as soon as I can! Plus, Christmas is coming up, and giving gifts is one of my greatest pleasures <3
THAT'S CALLED A BRIBE. SEND ME SOMETHING AND I'LL SEND YOU SOMETHING BACK.
Ahhhh, good times.
Love and Peace.
I am having some major withdrawal. No, not from the usual vices that you may be thinking of (e.g. sex, drugs, rock and roll) but from something that I used to do so much more often back in the states:
Baking.
I love baking. Pies, cakes, scones, cupcakes, cookies, bread, all of it (check out my fb photos if you want some step by step instructions of delicious things I have baked. They're easy steps and you'll totally love me for the recipes). If it goes in the oven, I want to try my hand at it. Which is why, now that I'm living in a house with no oven, I am finding myself rolling around the floor in angst.
What's worse is that it's FALL. It's prime baking season, people. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas- these three months are my favorite because it gave me a chance to bake as much as I wanted without a shortage of ingredients in the stores (spices are always well stocked, as are canned pumpkin puree and molasses).
Now I'm in Peru, where most people celebrate Día de la Canción Criolla instead of Halloween and Thanksgiving doesn't happen. I HAVE TO WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS, which is one of my favorites so at least I've got that. Plus, my site is pretty Catholic so it should be tons of fun.
Still, I need an oven. There are these 'bubble ovens' that exist around here. They're electric, the temperature can't be controlled, but it offers heat! In an enclosed space! That's all I need! Now where to find it...
Tricky.
I'll have to keep looking, I guess.
Another thing I can't find are ingredients. You know baking soda? That thing you buy in an orange box with that bald dude on it? That thing you put in your fridge a few years back and totally forgot about because you don't use it that often and whatever, it's cheap? Yea, you have to buy those in these tiny, mildly expensive packages at the pharmacy here. If I want to bake a cookie, I need to go to the pharmacy. For serious.
All I want to do is bake. I want to cut cold butter (also kind of difficult to find here. It's all spreadable margarine. I don't like margarine. It's crap.) into flour. I want to let dough rise in a warm area. I want to roll out pastry dough. I want to let berries macerate in sugar. I want to whisk butter and sugar until fluffy. I want to glaze things.
I just wanna bake...
SIGH.
So yea, I'm always begging people for letters and packages (to be quite frank, I get really really jealous of other volunteers here who seem to get a package of assorted goods almost every week. I understand why my friends don't send them, since a lot of y'all are working to make a living and sending me a package is too much of a pricey burden, plus when people ask, I don't encourage them to send me things because they could probably use that cash to do other things but that doesn't stop me from being really sad and jealous and really really really wanting ppl to send those packages anyway...)
But for serious. I like getting packages. I know, it seems silly for me to be that ecstatic about getting some candy or spices or baking stuff (like a whisk? anyone?) in the mail, but I DO. And I honestly appreciate it so very, freakin much...
Bah, but it's not necessary. Don't send me anything. Maybe a letter, because I do love letters. Or do? Send me a package! NO don't do that.
Do or don't, I guess is the message...
brought to you by my ever conflicted brain.
Ah well, sorry for turning this blog entry into a begging festival. Won't happen again. Thanks for reading though :) I laugh a lot when I check my blog stats and I'm getting random people from like Russia sent to my blog from some weird website. So for that:
Добро пожаловать на мой блог!
Thank you google translate.
Anyway, hope you weren't too annoyed by my silly plea for unnecessary things. Guess I've just been kind of stressed and lonely lately, and packages and letters are a nice reminder that someone back in the states still remembers that I'm here : /
Hey, also, remember that part? That I'm in Peru? Yea, I totally am. Again, send me your address and I'll write as soon as I can! Plus, Christmas is coming up, and giving gifts is one of my greatest pleasures <3
THAT'S CALLED A BRIBE. SEND ME SOMETHING AND I'LL SEND YOU SOMETHING BACK.
Ahhhh, good times.
Love and Peace.
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