Catching Up

I finally have some time to myself so I can update all of you on what has been going on in my life. It has been a crazy few weeks since I came back from my site visit so bare with me. I'll try to keep it interesting!

Hana and I were determined to spend as much time as possible together in our last few weeks as we could because who knows when we'll be able to see each other next. Right now our whole group is planning on meeting up for Thanksgiving because we get Wednesday-Sunday off so that should be lots of fun, but if there is any possibility of seeing each other before then, we're on it! We had so much fun together in the last few weeks. We basically turned into little Betty Crockers because we baked up a storm. We made banana bread for her family and they loved it so we ended up making it about two more times for them. We also made apple cake for my friend Rosemary's birthday (she's the one I made pizza with the night I broke the family heirloom), chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for Hana's family (who only gave us two and then hid them from us because they liked them so much), magic bars for the party for our family, kaiserschmarn, homemade granola and peanut butter, latkes, and3 loaves of Challah (I've become quite the little Jew with Hana)! It was the best Challah I've ever tasted and so much fun to make! We were laughing at ourselves because on top of all that baking, we would cook dinner together a lot too. When we first got to Peru we had all these plans to make some of our favorite things for our families, but then we got really busy and all of a sudden we only had 2 weeks left and tons of things we wanted to make so we basically cooked non-stop. We were joking that we had turned into an old married couple cooking and eating dinner together all the time, but we were having a great time doing it so who cares. As my dad says, Hana is one heck of a replacement for Giff! (Don't worry though Giff, no one could ever really replace you).

Funny story about our cooking (no we didn't blow up the kitchen or break anything valuable), is that my family has grown to love the food I make - thank goodness after the disaster that became of the first dinner we tried to make. We made eggplant parm when we got back from our trip and then spinach lasagna another night (for dinner, not breakfast like they usually have it). The kids always INHALE the food I make, you wouldn't believe how much an 8 and 10 year old girl could eat. They are so cute and get really excited when I'm going to cook. One night I was in the kitchen with abuelita learning how to make sopa de leche, this soup she makes that I really like, and Fernando's eyes lit up and asked me what I was making them for dinner (he was praying I was going to say tortillas because he always used to ask when I was going to make them again). I told him I wasn't making anything, just learning how to make soup. He said "OH MAN" and sulked back to his room because not only was I not making dinner, but he hates soup. I felt bad, but it was really cute.

Enough about food (for now at least, you know that's my favorite subject). During training we had this project we had to do called a Community Development Activity (CDA). We formed groups based on our neighborhoods and then identified a need and created an activity based on that need. Our group decided to do a community meeting on security in the neighborhood since Lindsay's house was robbed while we were living there and every house on our street has been robbed at some point in the past, but no one ever talks about it with each other so it continues to happen. Our neighborhood is really close to the central "highway" and is the entrance to Santa Eulalia so it's a really easy target. A lot of people expressed an interest in coming, but of course we only had 5 people actually come and two of them were under the age of 4 years old! It was only people that we lived with that came, but they seemed really grateful for the meeting and the opportunity to brainstorm ideas so make the neighborhood more secure. Even though there weren't very many people, we felt like it was pretty successful based on their feedback. However, about an hour or so after the meeting ended, Napo (short for Napoleon), our dog was missing and they were sure he had been stolen because apparently this happens a lot (don't ask me why when there are millions of stray dogs wondering the streets). How ironic that our dog was stolen right after our meeting on security! Luckily he came back at 2:20 am and my abuelita was up all night waiting for him (I saw her sitting on the sidewalk for a good 2 hours) because she was so nervous she couldn't sleep. She's so cute.

Hana, Lindsay, and I had also gone to Lima for the day one weekend to go to the movies and go bowling at this place called Jockey Plaza that feels like you're back in the States when you're there. Well it turns out that there weren't any movies we wanted to see and bowling was way too expensive so we just ate good food and went shopping at the gigantic grocery store there. We first had sushi - which is one of my new favorite foods! Who would have ever guessed that I would love sushi?! Anyway, the place gave us something as a courtesy while we were waiting for our sushi to be made. It was served in a shell and the part that you eat looked like a black blob with a toothpick sticking out of it. There was no way I was about to come close to that thing as I could just imagine it slithering down my throat - gross! Lindsay and Hana ate it though and said it wasn't that bad. Hana isn't a big fan of fish either so I started considering eating it, but then snapped back to reality. However, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think how proud Giff and my parents would be if they knew I tried this weird creature from the sea. Hana and Lindsay kept telling me it only tasted like soy sauce and was really delicate. After smelling it about 25 times (I always smell new food) and asking them a million times if they were sure it wasn't really chewy or would slither down my throat, I took the plunge and ate it - the whole thing! Ahhhhhhh! It actually wasn't that bad at all. I'm still not quite sure what it was nor do I ever want to know, but I'm proud of myself for eating it. After that, our sushi arrived and was delicious. We were still hungry so we followed it up with mozzerlla sticks and milkshakes at Tony Roma's. I know, sushi and milkshakes aren't exactly complementary foods, but everything tasted great! Probably one of the best things that came out of that trip to Lima was a discovery we made at the grocery store. We had pretty much sworn off the possibility of ever finding Reece's Peanut Butter Cups in Peru because we hadn't been able to find them anywhere, even in places that sell Milky Way, Snickers, M&Ms, Twix, etc. However, there we were, standing in line at Plaza Vea (the grocery store) and I spotted them! Lindsay is even crazier about them than I am so she screamed out of excitement. I think she gave the people in front of us a heart attack. It was soooo funny! Hana and I each bought one pack and Lindsay bought the rest of them! Hahaha. Since then we've found them in two other stores, but it's still exciting every time!

Oh man, so much for not talking about food a lot because I'm about to again! Haha. You would think I weigh about 500 lbs. by the way I talk about food so much! Anyway, in my Spanish class one day we learned how to make Chocotejas, these chocolates that are native to the Lima region of Peru and are filled with manjar blanco (like caramel) and a pecan. They are so delicious and I learned how to make them! I can't wait to make them for all of you when I get back home. I could start a little side business to supplement the huge "bonus" I get from the Peace Corps when I get back. Haha. As if that wasn't enough, we had an Income Generating Activity that afternoon in training where we learned how to make jam, yogurt, recycled paper, and beehives because they are possible things we could teach our community members to help them earn a little more money! I didn't think I'd care about the beehives as much as everything else, but it was probably my favorite thing. It was really fun to build and fascinating to learn how they make honey inside of it! Watch out, I'm going to be quite the entrepreneur when I get back! When Hana, Lindsay, and I made granola we had the brilliant idea to put our homemade peanut butter on top of it so there were clumps of peanut butter with granola. It was so delicious that we convinced ourselves we should sell it so there we go, my first business is already well on its way!

Sometimes when I'm here, I have those "Peru moments" where it hits me that I'm a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru! They don't happen that often (especially when I was in training surrounded by tons of gringos), but when they do it's really exciting. The night I made apple cake for Rosemary I had one with her. We were just hanging out at her house, talking with her mom and then we left to go talk outside because she wanted to talk to me about stuff she didn't want to say in front of her mom (so cute). While we were talking we walked to the park where her friend, Luis, teaches dance classes to some girls in the neighborhood a few nights a week. He brings a stereo from his house that is plugged in there and then the extension cords go all the way across the street and up to the park so they can have music to dance to! We were sitting and watching them at first, but then he aksed us to join them. Of course I had no clue what I was doing, but I followed the other girls as best I could and just laughed a lot. It was really fun and felt so Peruvian!

Towards the end of training we had a bunch of little parties and celebrations. One Friday they did a session on Shamanism - some strong beliefs people in the sierra have about using nature and the gods to cure them (really interesting) and then we had a Pachamanca. I had one of these at my host uncle's house for a birthday, but this was the most authentic one I've had. This one they actually dug a hole in the ground and got it really got with the coals and then cooked all of our food inside - potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken, apples, pineapple, fava beans. It is so hot inside that it only takes about an hour to cook everything! It is such a cool process! I took tons of pictures so I can try to replicate it back home because it's a really fun tradition and it also tastes amazing! It was by far the best Peruvian meal I've had since I've been here! Yum! The day before swearing in we had a party for all of our host families to thank them for being so generous with us. All of us gringos made something for the party so there were a lot of desserts, guacamole, fruit salad, and some other pasta salads. Oh man I could not believe how fast the desserts disappeared. I thought we were bad about desserts, no way. They love our desserts, but don't make them so they are crazy about them whenever they get the chance to eat them. There was no line or anything near the table of desserts, just mad chaos with everyone pushing each other and hoarding as much as they could. I tried to go up and get some stuff for my family, but it was all gone in less than 10 minutes! Hana told me people in her family got plates and plates of it and then put it in bags to take home with them! Of course the only thing that we had plenty of was fruit and pasta salad. Haha.

Before training was over we got a chance to go to Lima for the day and tour the Peace Corps office and meet with our country director and program director one last time before we left for our sites. The PC office is so nice! We had seen pictures of it, but it was way nicer than I had imagined. It was really comfortable there and the staff was great. It'll be a nice place to visit when we have to go to Lima for training or medical check ups. I was really looking forward to going to Lima to eat some good food before we left too, but I was pretty sick all day from the flu shot we had received the day before. I spent most of the day laying down on a bed in the doctor's office. I was supposed to go to the dentist that afternoon too, but luckily they were able to change that since I was not up to getting my teeth drilled when I was feeling feverish. Luckily I recovered that evening just in time to go to my director's house for a pizza party with the other youth development volunteers! First of all, her house was absolutely gorgeous! I couldn't believe the government pays for something so nice for her and it's way cheaper than any comparable apartment in the States. I told Giff he should quit the Air Force and I'll just work for Peace Corps! Anyway, the dinner at her house was amazing. She had a big green salad and fruit salad, chips and salsa, pickles, and Pizza Hut pizza, not to mention 3 great desserts! There is nothing better to cure a fever than good old American food! We all felt like we had died and gone to heaven. It was also really nice to get a chance to all be together one last time before we left for training. It was really comfortable and fun. As we were sitting there at dinner I had a feeling that we had all become so close in the past 10 weeks and I really felt like we had formed a family - with all of our drama and all! I knew it would be really hard to say goodbye to everyone, but it'll be great to reunite at Thanksgiving.

After that most of my time was spent packing and running errands to Chosica to get last minute things and try to print some digital pictures for my family. It took 3 or 4 trips there to finally get them printed, but those are the kinds of things we've come to expect here (not that it isn't really frustrating at the time). On one of our trips to the market, Hana found Will Ferrell's new movie, Talladega Nights so she bought it and we watched it at home over a dinner of peanut butter and jelly, bananas, milk and brownies (that Amanda had sent me from home)! What a great night! It was exactly what we needed after we'd been running around like maniacs preparing to leave.

My last night in Santa Eulalia was the night of my surprise birthday party. It was such a nice night and a great way to end my time with my family. I had written a letter to my host family and also printed some pictures for them so I gave those to them at dinner. My host mom cried when she read the letter so I was really glad I wrote it. I just told her how much I admired her for building such a nice life for her and her family after coming from such a humble background of living in pretty extreme poverty. She's an incredible woman and I'm so lucky to have had the opportunity to live with them. I miss them all so much already!

The next day was swearing in so now I'm officially a Peace Corps volunteer! The ceremony itself wasn't anything spectacular. Our country director spoke, as well as the director of USAID (on behalf of the Ambassador who couldn't make it), one of our host moms, and one of my fellow trainees. Then we took the oath and it was official! It was really fun to have our families there to witness it, but for them it's probably not that big of a deal since they've sat through 7 consecutive ceremonies. After the ceremony we had some time to visit with them and then they walked to the center with us to get all of our stuff and we got on a bus to go to Lima for the night before we left for our sites. I wish they would do that in a different way because the goodbye felt very rushed and impersonal. I gave Naomi and my host mom a hug (abuelita and Fernando didn't want to walk all the way back to the training center) and that was it. They both cried so it was hard to say goodbye, but I know I'll be back to visit them and I hope they can come visit me too sometime in the next two years.

We stayed in a really nice part of Lima for our last night. It was nice to have hot showers and nice accomodations, but it felt like we were back in the States again so it made the transition to our sites (at least for me) that much harder. Don't get me wrong, it was great to be in that nice area, but it made me really homesick (more than I've been in a long time) and made me get more and more nervous about leaving all of my friends and going to my site alone. We went to an American bar to watch college football and I was so excited because that is something Giff and I used to always do together, but it made me miss him so much that I had to leave the bar because I couldn't stop thinking about going home. It was also hard to see so many Americans there, going to eat at Tony Roma's and Hooters and getting coffee at Starbucks because they aren't getting the Peruvian experience at all. I hope that is not the only experience they have of Peru because that isn't Peru at all. It all just made me really sad and then shortly after that I had to say goodbye to everyone because my group (to Cajamarca) was the first to go. I had told Hana before not to feel bad if I didn't cry when I said goodbye to her because I'm not much of a crier (most of the time) and she said the same thing, but when we hugged goodbye, we both started crying like little babies. It was so hard to leave her, I couldn't even look at her because I'd start crying again. It was so hard after we've all become so close and really grown to care for one another. Jessica and I cried in the taxi the whole way to the bus station. All I could think was what in the heck am I doing here? It was really scary and intimidating, but I know it'll all work out in the end, it always does.

Two other quick things before I end this incredibly long entry (sorry, I told you there was a lot to say). Hana and I were eating breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning and these guys next to us were speaking English (turns out they work for the WWF) and one of them was eating a bagel! Of course I felt the need to interrupt and ask where he got it from. He said he brought it from the States, but offered us one to share. Of course I was thrilled and thought he was the nicest man in the world. After we got to talking and he found out we were in the Peace Corps and would be here for two years, he gave us another one because he said we each deserved our own! That definitely made my day. We had found this Whole Foods type grocery store (soooo nice, even for the States) and bought cream cheese and sushi to have for lunch! We were living in luxury that day! The last thing is that we went to this market in Lima that sells tons of pirated DVDs and computer software. I got 4 complete seasons of Friends and Rainman for less than $20 and they are really good quality- just like at home! I don't even have a DVD player here yet, but I couldn't pass that up. I'll figure some way to watch them!

Okay that's it for now. I know I haven't even written anything about my new site yet, but I thought I better end this since I've already gone pretty out of control. I'll write about my new site soon. I miss you all so much and thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes - it meant so much to me!