A Peruvian Thanksgiving

As volunteers, we're lucky enough to get some free days of vacation during the year where we don't have to use our personal vacation days. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays so for the past few months, my group has been planning a reunion at the beach in Huanchaco to celebrate the holiday, eat some great food, and finally be together again after our first 3 months in site. I was a little worried that it might be a disaster trying to coordinate with 30 other people, but my friend Josh and some other volunteers who live close to Huanchaco really stepped it up and booked an incredible location for us. It was an incredible 4 days and one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had!

The festivities began on Wednesday when we left the rainy, cold mountains for the hot, sunny beach. Instead of going straight to Huanchaco with our friends, Lindsay and I had planned on going to Kevin's site for the night because he has his own kitchen with a stove and oven. We thought it was a good idea to prepare our food ahead of time rather than fighting with everyone else for the oven (especially because at the last minute, the owner at the hostal said we might not be able to use the oven at all!). Plus it was a good excuse to see Kevin's site! Since the bus driver wouldn't let us off the bus before we got to Trujillo (our final destination), we wasted about 3 hours back tracking, but it was definitely worth it in the end. Kevin's family is really sweet and it was fun to see his site because it is SO different from my reality. It is hot, dry, and desert where he lives! We thought his family was going to give us dinner, but after all of the traveling confusion, his family thought we'd eat somewhere along the way. No problem, we had cookie dough, sweet potato pudding, and beer instead - getting Thanksgiving started a little early! We were up late baking...it's tough being Betty Crocker, but somebody's gotta do it. The next morning we visited his artisans to see what kind of work they do and got on the road. We thought it would be a nightmare transporting 3 batches of homemade cookies, sweet potato pudding, pineapple stuffing, and homemade apple cider (not to mention all of our own crap), but luckily it was pretty painless. We rented out an entire combi to ourselves for the first leg of the trip so that helped a lot! We finally arrived in Huanchaco around 12:30 pm on Thanksgiving Day and were ready to get the party started!

Of course I called Hana immediately and met her for lunch. Our hostal was right next door to a delicious vegetarian restaurant so we went there and then spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out. We walked up and down the beach enjoying the weather and catching up with one another. I had to buy a towel because of course I forgot to bring one....why would I need a towel at the beach anyway? It was much harder than you'd think to find one, but when we finally did, I had 3 choices, Bob Marley, Powerpuff Girls, or a topless blonde woman in a bikini.....I'll let you guess which one I chose ;).

Josh did an incredible job picking out a hostal for all of us. It was right on the beach and had really nice accomodations. It is broken into an upper and a lower part. We rented out the entire upper part and some rooms in the lower part. The upper part had rooms on one side and an area to camp on the other. It also had a little kitchen with a refrigerator and stove that definitely came in handy during our time there (leftovers, anyone?). The upper rooms surrounded a huge patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. I know what you're thinking, what a life, but don't forget, we use latrines, get flea bites, take bucket baths, and get harassed on a daily basis. I think we deserve to spoil ourselves once in a while. There was a huge fire pit in the camping area and also hammocks everywhere. On top of that, we only had to pay $4 per person per night. It doesn't get much better than that!

Even though we had been planning this get together forever, lots of people came empty handed. Lindsay, Kevin, and I were so annoyed and spent a good 30 minutes bitching about all the free loaders. Here we had stayed up all night cooking and then we had people who didn't bring anything so ran out at the last minute to buy a case of beer for their contribution or we had a group of 4 people who contributed a fruit salad when Lindsay and I contributed about 5 dishes between the two of us. We were so annoyed because we wanted to have this nice big Thanksgiving dinner and now we had to worry if there would even be enough food to feed everyone. Kevin had brought some mac and cheese for another night, but decided to make it for some extra food. We decided that to be fair, those of us who made food (like Cheridyn and Josh who got up at 7 am to make the turkey) should be able to go through the line first and then whatever was left would go for the slackers who didn't bring anything. Well were we ever embarassed when everyone pulled together in the end and created a beautiful spread! We had everything from deviled eggs and mango salsa for appetizers to Peppridge Farm stuffing (thanks to Carol!), green bean casserole (thanks to Rory's mom), polenta cornbread, sweet potato pudding, mashed potatoes and gravy, pineapple stuffing, and the most delicious and moist turkey I've ever tasted for dinner! To top that off, we had pumpkin and pecan pies, a chocolate coconut log, and lots of homemade cookies for dessert! As if that wasn't enough, the sun was setting as we ate so we had this gorgeous red sky in the background. It was absolutely incredible. It felt like we were in paradise!

Before dinner, my friend Evan led a prayer thanking God for all of the delicious food we prepared, the opportunity to all be together, and for this incredible experience we're all sharing in Peru. It was really touching and hit home for all of us. Being in the Peace Corps is such an exciting, challenging, frustrating, and unique experience. We all come from different backgrounds and belief systems, but this experience brings us together in a way that otherwise would never happen. As I sat there listening to Evan with the waves crashing onto the ocean in the background, I thought, this is what it's all about. I joined Peace Corps to share my culture and learn from my host country culture as well, but I never realized how much I would learn and grow to appreciate my own culture in the meantime. I really felt like I was among family that day and I realized that these people are making this experience just as special for me as all of the Peruvians I've met. I felt privileged to be among such a strong group of people and told myself it's those moments I need to remember when I'm so frustrated that all I want to do is go home. After dinner, we spent the night catching up with each other around a campfire. We swung in the hammocks, sang songs, laughed, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was definitely one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had and one I will never forget.

The next day Hana and I went to breakfast at the vegetarian restaurant and hit the beach. I lathered on SPF 45 sunscreen because I know how strong the sun is here. It felt so nice to just relax in the sun since I'm usually bundled up in Bambamarca. We tried to go swimming, but that wasn't very fun. The bottom of the ocean is full of rocks (and I don't mean little pebbles). The waves would sweep up all of the rocks and then dump them on your feet and ankles. We tried to endure it for a little while, but after getting all banged up, decided it wasn't really worth it. I guess we spent more time on the beach than I thought because despite the fact that I put 45 sunblock on TWICE, I still got really burnt. It hurt so much that I couldn't even zip or button my pants up (all of my friends reminded me the next day that they all saw my underwear...haha). I couldn't believe how badly I was burnt. I knew the sun was strong here, but I didn't think I'd get so burnt since I put sunscreen on. Now it's blistering and peeling - really attractive!

In the month leading up to Thanksgiving, it was suggested we play a huge American football game among ourselves on the beach - in true Thanksgiving tradition. We decided to break up into departments (Cajamarca, La Libertad, and Ica vs. Piura and Lambayeque). There was a lot of trash talking leading up to the big day and then when the day finally arrived (Friday), I was doubtful the game would even happen as everyone went off in different directions. After spending the morning at the beach, Hana and I decided to relax in the hammocks in the afternoon to conserve our energy for the big game (since we're obviously the MVPs of our respective teams). The game finally happened around 4:30 that afternoon and it was a blast! Some of the guys on Hana's team got so into it that they drew up plays during lunch that day and were studying them before the big game. Lindsay and I drew those black marks on our faces with eyeliner since we're so hard core - we had to scare our opponents somehow. Haha. I was pretty sure I wouldn't contribute anything since I have no hand-eye coordination, but to my surprise, I made two pretty huge catches right at the end that almost led to our comeback (we lost by one touchdown). My catches were even more important because they both occurred on drives that ended in a touchdown and we got more points for it if a girl had made a catch during the drive! One of them I even gained some yards so I was pretty excited. Josh was filming the game (because he hurt his knee and couldn't play) and when I made one of the catches, Kevin said, "Josh did you get? Send that to Giff!" I was pretty excited. We played until sunset, but lost at the end. We all had a blast though! That night we had a great Mexican dinner at this place called The Wave (located above a surf shop), partied and went out dancing at midnight. It was so much fun to all be together again and get to hang out without worrying about having training the next day. It truly felt like a vacation.

Huanchaco is known for its really good surfing so Hana and I decided to take a stab at it on Saturday morning. We went to this surf shop and rented boards, wetsuits, and got a 2 hour lesson with one of the guys who worked there (who can surf on his head!). We practiced on the beach with a surf board he drew in the sand and I was pretty good at that, but you can forget about it once we got out into the water. First of all, it probably took me a good 20 minutes just to get out past the waves so I could come back in. I kept getting hit in the face with a huge wave and knocked off my board (not to mention the fact that I'd lose about 10 ft. of progress everytime). When I finally got out, the teacher would grab the back of your board, say okay you're going, and then give you a big push. How was I supposed to know when to stand up? I know we practiced on the sand, but it was a little hard on the water so of course I fell every time. I sort of got up twice, but only for about 2 seconds each time. After an hour he sent us in to the shore to practice some more, but we were exhausted by then and not about to go back out. We were also injured - I cut my hand on some glass on the bottom of the ocean one of the million times I fell and also really hurt my tailbone on this huge rock I landed on one time. While we were sitting on the beach waiting for our teacher to come to shore, Hana got interviewed on TV! It must have been because we looked so hot in our wetsuits. Haha. Wetsuits have got to be some of the most unattractive clothes out there.

Unfortunately our lesson didn't end very well. I didn't have any money with me so Hana was going to pay for both of us. She had a 100 sole bill to pay with, but of course they didn't have change because no where ever has change here. At first our teacher was playing with the bill, but then I noticed he didn't have it anymore and asked if someone went to get change. He said no and that we had to wait for his boss to come back to give us change. I didn't really think anything of it and just kept waiting. Later he had the bill again and started holding it up to the light. At that point he told us the bill was fake. I knew Hana had gotten it from an ATM so I said no it wasn't. He asked me if I knew how to identify a fake bill and when I said yes he asked me to show him. As I was pointing out everything I knew, I realized it really was fake because all of the things that normally prove it's real were off. Of course I wasn't going to say that it was fake so I just played it off. We had to go to the market so he said he'd go with us to get change for the bill and when we went, we found out it really was fake! We realized that the people at the surf shop must have changed our bill for a fake one since I saw him without the bill for a while. We heard that people do that, but didn't think it had actually happened to us. So poor Hana lost 100 soles in the process and those jerks made a 100 sole profit on us since we paid for our lessons on top of that! SO FRUSTRATING! Of course Hana was pissed after that so we went to lunch and got delicious milkshakes called Sueño de Oreo (oreo dream). It helped, but still didn't make her money come back. They told us we could just go to the bank and tell them we got a fake bill from the ATM, but when Hana went, they held it up to a blacklight and saw that there bank security stamp wasn't there so she's definitely out all that money!

by Saturday night we were all pretty exhausted so didn't do much. Hana, Lindsay, Kevin, and I watched Elf and went to dinner together before Hana had to leave to catch her bus back to Piura. It was also Jessica's birthday so I made her an apple cake. Turns out the pan I had was too small so the cake kept spilling over the edges. When I went to check on it, the oven was full of smoke because the drips had burned on the bottom of the oven. On top of that, it normally takes 45 minutes to cook and instead it took almost 2 hours because of the mess I had made! Oh boy. I'm sure the people at the hostal loved that, but at least I shared some with them. Jessica had no idea I had made her the cake so was really surprised when we walked upstairs with it singing Happy Birthday. To make her birthday even better, our parents met that night for dinner in California and called us! They live only about an hour away from each other so we asked them to get together and they did it on her birthday! It was a pretty chill night after that though and we went to bed pretty early.

Sunday it was time to go back to reality after this amazing vacation. We got on the bus at 10 am and 6 hours later arrived in cold, rainy Cajamarca. Peru 8 just swore in as volunteers so we copied maps for them of the city and bought them little coin purses to welcome them to our department (we have 7 new volunteers). We had a delicious Italian dinner with Joseph and then went to the movies. We were all really missing the beach already, but it was a nice end to our vacation.

And now here I am back in Bambamarca. I anticipated being really depressed when I got back to site, but I'm happy to report that things are going really well. I was really excited to see the doctor's family again and Rita too. I've also been spending more time with my little host brother and have been having a great time with him. Believe it or not, not even my lunch of pasta, rice and potatoes (really colorful) brought me down. I've been in such a good mood and I'm pretty sure it's because I leave in 3 WEEKS to go home for Christmas! That is all I can think about because it means that I FINALLY get to see Giff again after more than 6 months!!! Woo Hoo!!! Of course I'm equally as excited to see my parents, his family, and Amanda too who is coming to North Carolina for a few days too!

A Few Things I Forgot to Mention

Well just as I suspected, I had lots more to say that I couldn't think of when I was updating my blog the last time so I made some notes and want to fill you all in. I don't have much time so I'll write them in bullet points to try to make it go faster.

• The day I got to Cajamarca for ALMA, Lindsay called me to say there had been a murder in her town right outside of her house! She was obviously really shocked by everything that had happened and not thinking clearly. I told her she couldn't sleep there that night and I'd figure out how to come get here (she lives 45 minutes outside of the city). I called our director and told him there had been a murder and the dead body was in her house (because her host dad has a pharmacy and they brought the body there in hopes he could resussitate it). At 10:30 pm we went to get here and didn't get to bed until 2 am that night. We were up again at 6 the next morning to go back to her site and meet the girls she was taking to the camp. It turned out to be a very long weekend because due to some other problems, she ended up having to change sites. I helped translate for her for most of the weekend because José doesn't speak English and she was too upset to do it herself.
• That same weekend I started to feel very sick from some of the food we had eaten at the camp and called my doctor. Based on the symptoms I had, she thought I might have Giardia (a parasite living in my stomach)! I was supposed to go to the clínica the next day, but luckily I started feeling better. Hopefully whatever I had just went away.....
• A group of about 6 of us went to see The Devil Wears Prada at the movie theater one night. All of a sudden one of the guys in the movie says, "It's not like I'm in the Peace Corps or anything"! We all happened to read it in the subtitles before they said it and thought we were hallucinating to see Cuerpo de Paz on the screen. When he actually said it, we all started cheering! I'm sure everyone else there thought we were crazy, but we thought it was great.
• Before I left for Chiclayo, Chabu had told me to be very careful because there is a lot of theft, but of course I got lazy when we were walking in a group of friends and someone stole my sunglasses case out of my bag. Luckily the only pocket they opened didn't really have anything in it, but it was still really scary and a good wake up call that I need to pay better attention!
• Peruvians are really funny about requests to buy things that aren't exactly on the menu. Sometimes it seems like they don't understand that they're losing our money by refusing us a simple request. For example, while in Chiclayo, Lindsay and I saw waffle fries on the menu at this place called Bembos (the Peruvian version of McDonald's). We asked to buy them and he said we couldn't because they only come with a platter that costs 15 soles. We didn't want the whole platter, just waffle fries. We argued with him for about 10 minutes, trying to convince him that it would be worth it for them because we were willing to pay 5 soles (regular fries cost about 1 sol). We finally asked to talk to his manager and he said he'd see what he could do. While we were waiting for the manager, he was talking to us about where we're from and kept saying, "McDonald's doesn't have anything on us. BEMBOS!!!" It was hilarious. When he told us his name he flexed his muscles, pointed to the sky, and said "Arthur" and then gave us a peace sign. So funny! After he told us we'd have to come back "siempre" (and I refused because I thought he said diciembre), the whole staff came to the counter and gave us a basket of waffle fries....for FREE! They said "from Bembos to you". It was so funny! We only got about 5 fries in the end, but it was funny anyway.
• The other day I went into one of my favorite stores in town and the woman who works there said, "Hi Kristen, you've gotten fatter!" Oh thanks a lot, way to boost my self esteem. Then her sister walked in and said, "wow, you're getting fatter!" Two sisters, within one minute of another. I said, maybe it's because I'm wearing a lot of clothes, and they said no, you must love the food here. Bambamarca is doing you a lot of good. THANKS A LOT! I asked them what they meant by it and told them it's an insult in my culture, but they said it just means I'm getting more and more beautiful. That will take a while for me to believe. That's not a compliment I'm so fond of here. Ironically, no less than an hour later a man I knew was driving by and was yelling "FLACA.....FLACITA" (skinny) out the window to me! Hahaha. I love this country!

There are a few more stories, but I'll leave it at that because we're about to leave for the beach! Woo hooo!

Growing a Thicker Skin

We just finished with Reconnect, a two day meeting where all of Peru 7 got together to talk about our frustrations, challenges, and what we've been doing for the past two months. It was so great to see everyone - it felt like a family reunion. It's hard to imagine that we've already been in site for two months because we all just picked up where we left off. The first day was mostly administrative stuff, going over policies and such (after I created a big fiasco about this - apparently we did not follow the correct procedure for asking to participate in camp ALMA and it created quite the controversy). The second day was more exciting because we got to hear presentations from everyone on what they have been doing. We broke up into youth and business because there wasn't enough time to hear them all, but I would have enjoyed listening to what the business volunteers have been up to. We did get to hear a few (because our room wasn't ready yet) and they were so interesting. They get to work with artisans who make really beautiful bags, blankets, pottery, etc. My friend Julia brought some of her artisans products and they were a big hit. I bought a few things and put in an order for more! Maybe it was better I didn't see any more of their presentations or I might have left Chiclayo without any money! The youth presentations were really beneficial for me because I got a lot of great ideas for future work. It was also nice to discuss our frustrations because we were able to learn some great ways to handle unwanted attention and other challenges we face. One guy in my group said it's common knowledge that in his town the guys have sex with donkeys! (Yes you read that correctly.) Gross! Apparently beastiality is common in rural areas all around the world. Brent said the guys reassured him that they only do this with female donkeys because otherwise people would think they were gay!?!?

Before Reconnect we had a leadership camp in Cajamarca for teenage girls from all over the department. There were about 30 girls ranging in age from 15 to 17 (although of course I made the mistake of inviting my girl before I knew for sure how old she was....I was pretty sure she was 14, but turns out she is only 12....oops!). The camp started on a Friday morning and ended on Sunday at noon. We broke the girls up into four teams based on what room they slept in to help build comraderie (no idea how to spell that) among them and separate the girls who came from the same towns. We had everything from self-esteem activities, art projects, an obstacle course and dance contest to a job fair, sex education and nutrition charlas. On Saturday night we also had a big bonfire with s'mores that were of course a huge hit. The girls gathered by regions and did a little song or dance to represent their region so Jessica and I sang a song from Bambamarca with Nayla and Raquel (the two girls we took to the camp). It was really fun and a great cultural exchange because afterwards all of the volunteers sang the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. Of course all the little girls had crushes on the three male volunteers that helped out with the camp and begged them to sing Titanic.....hillarious! (In case I've never mentioned this before, Peruvians are obsessed with Titanic).

Before we went to bed that night, many of the girls said something about how the camp has had a huge impact on them. They all seemed to have learned a lot and form really nice relationships among one another in the short time they had together. It was a really special opportunity for them because they rarely get the opportunity to travel and meet other girls from their department. One of the girls said she wanted to thank all of us volunteers for dedicating two years of our lives to give to the youth of Peru. She said she has learned so much from Lynda (who lives in her town) and can only imagine the great work the rest of us are doing. She asked us all to continue working hard because we have no idea what an impact we have on the youth in our community. It was such a great reminder of why I'm here and definitely had an impact on all of us. That is definitely one of those "Peace Corps moments" that I'll never forget. Before participating in this camp, I had heard from many volunteers that it is always a highlight of their service, and now I know why.

Jessica, Heidi, and I had to leave early the next morning to make sure our girls got to the bus on time. Nayla (the girl who came with me) called her mom to see if she could stay the night in Cajamarca with her grandmother so she wouldn't have to leave early. It was so cute how close they all became in just three days. Unfortunately, Nayla did not get to stay since she was my responsibility and we had agreed that she would leave on the morning bus, but she thanked me numerous times for taking her and asked when we'd be having the next one! Some of the girls were even crying when they left. I told them that I had participated in several youth leadership camps when I was younger and still keep in touch with my roommate from one I attended when I was only 15 years old. They were very excited about that and it gave them hope that their relationships wouldn't end that day.

I must admit that the camp was really special for me not only because I got to see a huge change in these girls' behavior in just two and a half days, but also because I got to watch other volunteers in action. The camp was mostly run by Peru 5 and 6 volunteers who have been in site for a year now and have participated in previous camps (there is a similar camp for boys in the Spring). Those of us who participated from Peru 7 were there to help in any way we could and observe how these camps run. I learned so much from the other volunteers and was really in awe of their work. It was so fun to see the relationships they've built with the girls in their site and how much these girls look up to them. I also was able to talk with them about projects they've done in site and frustrations or challenges I'm having. It was really nice to be able to talk to them and be reassured that some day I too will have these relationships. The camp definitely left me motivated to return to my site and start working more closely with the youth there, even if it is just with a handful in the beginning.

In the past couple of weeks, I've stopped feeling guilty that I really enjoy my time spent with fellow volunteers and realized how important it is to build those relationships. They are my biggest support network and the only ones who truly understand what I'm going through. It's nice to be able to get together with them and just relax. Even if it's the first time you're meeting them, there is an automatic connection between the two of you that facilitates an immediate friendship. I've also realized that these relationships are just as important as the relationships I'm forming with Peruvians because they will continue much beyond the two years here. As hard as we will all try to keep in touch with our friends and family in Peru, it will be difficult. However, the friendships we form with fellow Americans will hopefully stay with us long after we leave this beautiful country. I'm really grateful for the friendships I've already begun to form and look forward to building upon those in the future.

Enough of those deep thoughts, back to my life. After ALMA we had Counterpart Day in Cajamarca. Rita came down from Bambamarca to participate and I think she found it very beneficial. We talked about the role of a volunteer in site and some of the reasons we decided to come to Peru. It was nice for them to learn the goals of Peace Corps and see where they, as our counterparts, fit into our work here. We also spent some time developing a work plan of some projects we could do together over the next two years. Rita and I came up with a lot of great ideas, but I was starting to feel overwhelmed with everything we had written down. I was exhausted just reading the page and we technically haven't even started yet. Luckily when I talked to my APCD at Reconnect, she expressed concern that she thinks I'm getting involved in too many things too early on. She said that she thinks I'm doing an excellent job integrating into my community and meeting people, but she's worried that I'm going to burn myself out. Although I'm really excited to do a lot of great things for my community, I really took her advice to heart and now realize it's not about quantity, but quality. She said if I only work with 10 kids over the next two years, that's fabulous because it means I really had an impact on 10 kids lives and helped change their lives in a way they never would have otherwise.

Unfortunately the rest of my meeting with my APCD did not go so well, or better said, did not go as planned. The first thing she said to me was that I cannot change host families. As you can all imagine, I was really upset as I was really looking forward to living with the doctor's family. I knew there was a rule that we cannot live with our counterparts so I thought that meant Rita exclusively, but apparently it means anyone from our counterpart agency. Since the Centro de Salud is my counterpart agency, this means I'm not allowed to live with the doctor and his family. As if that wasn't hard enough to hear, she went on to tell me that the two highest staff members in Lima think there is something wrong with me because I want to change houses again. She said it's not only rare to live in three houses, but it's never been done before in the whole two years for any volunteer and here I want to change my house for the third time in three months. She said this request sent up red flags with them that there is something else going on with me and they think I'm having problems integrating into my community so I keep changing houses everytime I run into trouble. Essentially I was told that my host mom is saying these things out of ignorance and I need to use this as an opportunity to teach her about my culture and that her behavior and comments make me feel uncomfortable. They told me I need to "grow a tougher skin" and set personal boundaries for myself not only with her and the family, but also in my work so I do not spread myself too thin and get burnt out.

Of course I started crying because this was not what I was expecting to hear. I was not crying so much about the family, but rather at the fact that I feel like a lot of the staff has this misconception about me because of some isolated situations (the off-site policy problem that happened earlier last week and now this). The off-site policy created such controversy that we were threatened to have 3 vacation days docked because of the mistake we had made. Luckily that did not happen, but still, I was the one at the head of that fiasco and now this situation with my host family. Out of the 35 people in my group, I think I'm one of the ones they should be least worried about and instead, I'm raising red flags for them and they think I'm not doing a good job in my site. Luckily when I did my presentation at Reconnect of what I've been up to in site, all of the high staff members from Lima saw it and afterwards my APCD said it was just what she was looking for. Hopefully that will help improve their image of me. I've realized though that I cannot let this affect me or it'll really have an impact on my work here. I think I'm doing a good job and Rita and the doctor are thrilled with my ideas and what I've done so far so that's really what matters. I'll just have to use this time to prove to them that I really am a dedicated volunteer and not someone they need to worry about.

Although I was very upset from my meeting with my APCD, I've returned to my site much more open minded. I've had time to think about what she said and I hate to admit it, but I think she was right. I knew coming to Peru that I would probably be living with a poor family and meet people who are less educated than I am. I thought I was ready for this and would easily adapt to my life here. However, reality is much different than how we imagine things and after having a little run-ins with my host mom, I completely isolated myself from the family instead of addressing the problems at hand. I think I didn't handle the situation in a very mature way and helped to make things worse by constantly spending time at the doctor's house. Their house is much more like what I'm used to so I probably was running there to avoid facing my problems. I think I was being culturally insensitive and a little selfish and my meeting at Reconnect was definitely a wake-up call for me. I joined the Peace Corps because I wanted to challenge myself and teach others about my culture. Here I have those opportunities staring me in the face and instead of taking advantage of them to teach my family something about me, I chose to run away and seek another house. I'm really trying to make an effort to spend more time with them now and give them another chance. I now realize that they are very shy and have never really been in contact with an extranjera so they don't really know how to act around me. I think if I'm more open with them and continue to make an effort, things will inevitably improve (at least that is what I'm hoping). Last night my host mom asked me if I could vote in the elections that are being held here this Sunday and instead of getting annoyed with her, I explained that I'm not a citizen and therefore not allowed to vote here. Poco a poco we'll get there.

So back to my trip.....leaving Chiclayo was sad because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Hana. It was so much fun to see her and definitely a tease, but at least I'll see her again soon for Thanksgiving. We left at night and arrived in Cajamarca at 5 am. We're quickly approaching the end of the school year here in Peru so the kids who are graduating usually go on school field trips for the weekend to a big city or touristy area. Of course when we arrived we had to go to 2 different hostals before we found one because they were all full of high schoolers. Luckily we found a room at this new place that is really cheap. We should have known that hostals are cheap for only one reason. When we arrived, we found our beds made, but they must have forgot to finish cleaning the room because there was a razor on the sink and men's underwear hanging in the shower! After we got past that and were about to go back to bed at 6:30 am, we found a dirty toe nail on the night stand! GROSS! Needless to say, we did not stay there again the next day.

I think I've mentioned before how we absolutely love this one cafe in Cajamarca because they have the best hot chocolate in the world. They also have pretty good desserts which are nearly impossible to find in Peru so of course we love it. Well we have developed quite the reputation there and the waiters love us. As soon as we walk in their eyes light up and before we can sit down they ask if we want hot chocolate. If that was the only thing we were known for, it wouldn't be a big deal, but there have been a few other incidents. First of all, my friend Heidi is known for her willingness to stand up to Peruvians and say something if they call her gringa, stare at her, try to imitate her English, heckle her, or do anything else that might annoy her. She makes me laugh so much about it and Lindsay has been dying to see her "in action". One night we were at Cascanuez and these people next to us kept staring at us everytime we opened our mouths. They were very distracting because their stares were anything but subtle. They would crane their necks to turn around and watch us and Lindsay and I couldn't concentrate on our conversation with Heidi (her back was to them so she couldn't see). We told her it kept happening so she decided to turn around and ask them if any of them wanted to join our table because they seem very interested in our conversation. They were all very embarassed and said they don't speak English, but Heidi said it didn't matter because we speak Spanish too. Meanwhile, Lindsay and I are cracking up watching this whole thing unfold (especially since all of the customers and waiters in the restaurant were watching too). Unfortunately, right before Heidi said something I had taken a sip of my water and was choking on it because I couldn't stop laughing. It was really funny and quite a spectacle. No one ended up taking Heidi up on her offer, but there were no hard feelings and they all said bye when they left.

A couple of days after that, we were in there again and created another scene. Lindsay had been telling us how she once had this delicious chocolate peanut butter cake there. We look for it everytime we come in and they never had it. Well the night we were leaving for Chiclayo, they had it and we were ecstatic! However when we asked to buy some they said no because they wouldn't cut it. They wanted to sell it whole. I was very upset and started begging. First they told me someone had ordered it and if she didn't come in 30 minutes, they would cut it. I don't know if they thought I would forget, but of course I didn't and after 30 minutes they still said no. Meanwhile, I had called Heidi who was on her way to tell her to ask for it as soon as she came in (so it didn't look like I set her up to it - she really wanted it too). They told her they would cut it in the morning. I told them we were traveling at 11 pm that night and wouldn't be there to return in the morning. That didn't work so we told them it was Heidi's birthday and she had been dying to try that cake. Still nothing. Then we asked to speak with their manager, but she wouldn't be there until the morning. At this point we were ready to buy the whole damn cake so we asked how much it cost. We were thinking around 50 soles. We thought it would be a stretch, but were willing to do it. When he said 75 soles I almost fell out of my chair. We thought that was too much and decided to call our friends to see if they would go in on it with us - no luck there though. Lindsay and I went to the front and practically drooled as we looked at it in the glass case and tried to calculate how much it would cost a slice if we tried to sell it to our friends. They kept asking if we wanted to buy it, but we were very hesitant since it was so expensive. After about 15 minutes of comtemplating this, the waiter came over to us and told us he called his boss and she gave him permission to cut the cake! I was so excited I started clapping! They thought we were hillarious and were so excited that we were so happy. When they brought us the cake, we sang Happy Birthday to Heidi as not to deceive the waitstaff. Hahahaha. It was delicious by the way.

So now I'm back at site and definitely feeling really unmotivated in my site. It's just hard after spending so much time with other volunteers and knowing that we're leaving again soon for Thanksgiving. It was such a tease seeing everyone and I can't wait to go eat some great food with them on the beach for the holiday. Local elections are also being held this Sunday and the people here are CRAZY about them. They get so involved (like us for a presidential election) so it's nearly impossible to get anything done because people are very preoccupied with this. Luckily I guess my feelings are pretty normal because I've talked to about 6 other volunteers and we're all in the same boat right now. I was able to finally coordinate with Rita today about doing something for World AIDS Day on December 1st so we'll do the final organizing for that when I return.

Since I can't get much done, I've been trying to read up on my materials from training that I never read to start preparing for my youth group. I've also been hanging out at the doctor's house and with Jessica. I made BBQ Chicken Pizza the other night for the doctor's family and it was a HUGE hit even though they told me it was really weird looking and were suspicious when I said I know how to make pizza. Haha. It was really fun and they said it looked like it came straight from Pizza Hut! Haha.

Jessica and I have had a great time hanging out together other than the fact that we're definitely going to fall through the roof one night because my bed is going to break any day now. We also have fleas. ¡Que bueno! I'll take fleas over rats though...

Miss you all. Sorry this was so long (as usual), but I hadn't written in so long. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! You can be thinking of me at the beach with all of my friends! I can't wait. I'm sure I'll have good stories so look for a blog after the holidays.

Soy Una Disastre!

Chabu (the doctor's wife and my new host mom in a few weeks) always teases me that I'm a disaster because some days I'm really clumsy or just do ridiculous things. Last week I was helping her clean the kitchen after they painted and broke one of their glasses. I also made a mess in the kitchen one morning when I was trying to help prepare breakfast. Apparently the base of the blender wasn't screwed on tightly and the smoothie I made went all over the counter, the wall, and the floor - oops! After those incidents, I told her about the first time I cooked for my host family in Santa Eulalia (the dinner I made with ricoto pepper that we couldn't even eat) and also about breaking the family heirloom. We laughed about it a lot and so she teases me about being a disaster.

Well the other day I topped it all when I fell down the stairs (only two) at Rita's house and BROKE MY CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh. It was Mélany's birthday and I was helping to clean up before all of their family came over. I was carrying the empty cake box into the kitchen from the living room. In order to do so, you have to go down two stairs that I've walked up and down a thousand times. Of course this time, when I had my camera around my wrist (like an IDIOT), I somehow slid down both stairs on my back and involuntarily tried to brace my fall with my hands therefore slamming my camera, lens first, into the ground. Nothing happened to me, but the lens of my camera is now jammed into the camera and the camera no longer works! I was so mad at myself for breaking it because I love my camera and use it all the time here. I called my mom right away to see if she knew how to fix it since she has the same one, but mostly because I wanted to tell her what happened. She was saying how this is really out of character for me, but this is the second camera I've broken (I dropped the other one on the ground in LA). I was so disappointed in myself and so frustrated that I started CRYING! Of course Giff made fun of me for this since it's "only" a camera, but I really like it and was so mad at myself. My mom said thank God nothing happened to me, but I told her I would have rather something happened to me instead of my camera! You can imagine how she reacted to that one. Ahhhhhh. Rita came in the room and saw me crying while I was talking to my mom. She was so cute afterwards telling me that she loves my camera and she'll never love any other camera I have as much as that one. Haha. I tried to explain to her that my mom has the same one at home that she doesn't use and I can get it at Christmas, but she still said she wouldn't like it as much. Chabu told me there are lots of places in Chiclayo that can fix digital cameras so we'll see, but I don't have much hope. Argh! As they say here, ¡Que cholera!

Besides for that, things are going really well here. I've started using the webcam when I talk to my parents and Giff and it makes our conversations so much better! Who knew it would be so fun to see each other. I know that sounds silly, but I really didn't think using the camera would be that big of a deal (besides the fact that I thought we couldn't use it since they don't have a camera, but then found out that they can still see me even if I can't see them). I thought they might enjoy it so I tried it out. Forget them enjoying it, I was so entertained by watching myself (because it shows me what they see) that I had to minimize the screen when we talked! Haha. I know that sounds really vain, but it was just so exciting that I started showing them everything I had with me (including my house key, the tiny key to my room that would never keep a robber out, my cell phone, my earrings, etc.). Haha - I know I'm a dork. Technology is pretty amazing and I'm so lucky to be able to talk to them so frequently. My parents just got a webcam too so I got to see them for the first time the other night. My mom was fooling around with it the whole time and I told her she couldn't pretend to be listening to me anymore because now I can see that she's not really listening to me! Hahahaha. It was really funny and so much fun (in case you didn't get that part). So any of you who want to see me, or even just talk to me for free, DOWNLOAD SKYPE! It's the greatest invention ever and I only have to pay $0.30/hour to talk to you!

For those of you who have been really worried about me after reading the posting when I was really upset, I want to thank you for your concern and reassure you that I'm feeling so much happier now. I really didn't mean to worry all of you, but this blog is just as much a memory for me as a way for all of you to keep up on my life so I wanted to write about how I was feeling. I'm sure you could all tell that I was really upset, but I knew there would be days like that in Peace Corps and I knew I was up for that challenge. I got through it and and doing so much better now. Over the last few weeks (as I was getting out of my slump), I realized how important it is to get out of my site once and a while and rejuvenate myself. I'm not here to be a hero or prove anything to anyone so staying in my site for "x" amount of weeks straight doesn't help me or anyone else because then I just get frustrated and upset. I've realized that my mental health and well-being is the most important thing in my life right now and taking care of myself is my number one priority. If that means that I have to go into Cajamarca for the weekend or go visit another volunteer at their site, I should do it because I always come back feeling refreshed, excited to see Rita and the doctor's family, and ready to take things on again.

Going to Cajamarca this past weekend really helped me come to this conclusion. I had a great time in the city, eating delicious food, hanging out with other volunteers, going to the movies, and even watching part of the 1st game of the World Series! We went into town for the Peru 4 despedida (going away party) because they're done with their two years. It was really fun because there were tons of volunteers there from all over Cajamarca and I got to meet a lot of new people. All of the volunteers I talked to encouraged me to take breaks from my site and come to the city to hang out with other volunteers. A lot of them said meeting other volunteers is one of their favorite things about Peace Corps and it's a great way to get new ideas and support when you need it. I met some people that I really like and look forward to becoming better friends with. After having my emotional breakdown in site, it was also nice to meet the volunteers who are about to leave who said they blinked their eyes and their two years were over. Not that I'm wishing my time here away, but it's nice to know that it doesn't drag on forever and that eventually I will really settle in and have so many projects and friendships that the time will fly by. After the despedida we went to this really nice hotel and watched Game 1 of the World Series at their bar. It was so fun to be with a bunch of Americans watching baseball. I know it sounds so un-Peace Corps, but sometimes you really need something like that. It's really nice to be surrounded by people who know exactly what you're going through. After the game we went out to a club (my first in Cajamarca). It was actually really nice, with a dance floor on the first floor, and tables, darts, and pool tables on the second floor. We danced for a long time and had a great time! A couple of my friends didn't like it because they didn't like being with so many "gringos", but that was exactly why I liked it - I don't like when all the Peruvian guys come up and dance with me - gross!

Randomly, I also found out that one of the girls from Peru 4 went to AU! She graduated in December '03 (but walked in '04). She lived in Leonard most of the time, but we know some of the same people, including one girl who went to Mt. Greylock High School! What a small world. She told me that for its size, AU is about number 13 in the world for having graduates as Peace Corps Volunteers!

While I was in Cajamarca, Heidi and I discoverd the best hot chocolate. It's at this restaurant we like to go to for breakfast and desserts (the only decent desserts I've had in Peru). It's so delicious that we often had it twice in one day to stock up! The people who work there probably think that we're crazy, but we had fun. We went there for breakfast every morning, including the morning we left because we took Joseph out for his birthday. He turned 56 (our oldest volunteer) so we wanted to treat him to breakfast! He is a great guy and we all had a lot of fun with him. We also went there one night after a delicious Italian dinner at Vaca Loca (Crazy Cow) for hot chocolate and pie - yum! At dinner we got to meet 5 health volunteers from Peru 8 who were on their Field Based Training. They all seemed really nice and it was nice to be able to give them some advice since we remember all of the anxiety we were feeling before knowing our sites (just a few months ago). I got to meet Hillary who is currently living with my host family in Santa Eulalia. She is really nice, but told me I left her in a bad position because she doesn't know how to cook anything so Fernando wants nothing to do with her. Haha. I felt bad, but told her not to worry, I'm sure they love her anyway and will be talking about her for years to come with all of the other volunteers. I must admit, I was happy to hear they talk about me a lot since all I ever heard about was Isabel (aka Elizabeth) and hoped they would have such fond memories of me too.

I haven't officially moved to the doctor's house yet, but I pretty much live there. I now eat 3 meals a day there and even shower there because they supposedly have "hot" water, but it's only been what I consider hot, once for about 15 seconds. Oh well, at least it's not freezing cold and it's nice to have a shower rather than a bucket bath. Today the shower was particularly cold though and I was thinking that a bucket bath really doesn't seem so bad in comparison because at least it's warm water. I really am having a great time with them though. We laugh a lot together, talk about everything under the sun, I help the kids study for their tests (and it turns out I learn a lot in the meantime), and even paint my room together! I've been working hard to get my room ready. Last Friday Carol and I spent 2.5 hours cleaning the bathroom. It was probably one of the grossest jobs I've ever done and Carol was such a help. I didn't even ask her to help and she worked so hard! I was so grateful that I bought her a bunch of stickers. (She is so cute and loves to do everything with me. The other day she wanted to come with me to wash my underwear, but luckily her mom made her stay home for that one). Anyway, the bathroom was FULL of rat, dog, cat, and who knows what other animal poop and more little creepy crawly insects than I ever knew existed. GROSS! It was also full of boxes that had all gotten wet, so every one that I picked up broke and all the papers fell out. We finally got all the papers out and then found the floor of the shower black from all of the poop. It was so gross, but now it looks great. Carol kept telling me not to worry because we'd make it be a bathroom fit for a princess! She's so cute.

Carol and Chabu also helped me paint my room yesterday. I really like the color of my room now, but my new room is smaller so I didn't want to paint the whole thing that color because it would be too dark. We went to tons of different stores looking for paint - what an adventure that was. In the States, we can usually choose among 200 colors or so. Here they have about 20 and then once you ask for one, they inevitably say, "oh sorry, we don't have that color". Most places only have 3 colors - white, celeste (which is a bright baby blue) or this bright lime greenish color. The last color I wanted for my room was celeste because everything is painted that color and it's the color of all health centers so I wanted a break. We finally found a place that had a lighter blue (my 3rd choice), but I was happy with it. When we got it home and put some on the wall, it was just about the same color as the darker one I already had. Chabu had a few buckets of left over blue paint that she let me try out. To be honest, I wasn't really crazy about all of them, but they were really trying to help me and we just wanted to get it painted. If it were up to me, I would have waited and bought another color, but I know that's easier said than done and they really wanted to get the room painted. So guess what color we painted the other 3 walls? Yup, you guessed it, celeste - the one color I did NOT want. I decided that I'm in Peru and doing lots of stuff I thought I'd never do (like take cold showers) so why not paint my room celeste? Plus they were just trying to help so I thought I should have an open mind about it and appreciate their help. Of course we didn't have enough paint and it was pitch black when we were finishing (so I was painting with only the light of my headlamp) so the room definitely leaves something to be desired. I saw it in the daylight today and it's really not that bad. I love the darker blue and might paint another wall that color. We're going to wait until I get back from my trip to figure out what to do with the other walls that have tons of patches where the paint didn't cover very well (thanks to the great lighting by the headlamp) and another huge patch where we ran out of paint so it's still cream colored. Oh boy, this should be interesting!

After the painting fiasco, we made hot dog pizza again and I carved a pumpkin! It was the first "pumpkin" (pretty small and green) I've ever carved by myself. Of course the TV people saw me walking home with it and insisted on interviewing me about what I was going to use it for. It turns out I really don't know that much about why we celebrate Halloween, but I just made something up (I've gotten really good at that). I said we dress up in costumes and put jack-o-lanters on our porch to scare away the ghosts of the dead and to tell them to leave us alone. I looked it up later on the internet and I'm actually not that far off so I was pretty impressed with myself. I invited Rita and Melany over for the pumpkin carving also. Even though Rita told me she couldn't even imagine what I was going to do with the pumpkin (after I tried explaining it), she was trying to tell me I wasn't doing it right. I just had to laugh and tell her that I knew how to do it. Somehow she was really surprised to hear I'd done it before even though I told her we carve a pumpkin every year! Hahaha. They were all really impressed, and to be honest, so was I! I really didn't think it'd come out so well. We turned off the lights and it looked so pretty with the candle inside. The pumpkin was green, but orange on the inside so it glowed a lot with the candle. They have this 15 year old girl who cleans the house and she was there too. She's really shy and never talks, but I told her to come look at it and her eyes lit up! She couldn't believe how beautiful it was and said she's never seen anything like it. I was so excited because I felt like it was such a perfect cultural exchange. (We even had orange soda with dinner to celebrate Halloween and each had one little chocolate)!

I know this is so long already and of course I have so many more things to say, but I'll leave you with this one funny story. I think I've mentioned before how kids here are rarely given the opportunity in school to be creative and use their imagination so when I go to their classes to do my little personal flag activity with them, they are all really confused. I give them 6 questions and tell them they have to respond to the questions with drawings, symbols, or designs to represent their answer. The usually need an example so the first question is "what do you like most about your family?" I used to say, if your answer is that you have a lot of love, then you can draw a heart. Inevitably, every single one of the kids drew a heart. Then I decided I needed to give a less common example. I said, if your answer is that you have a pet cat, then draw a cat. I figured this was a good example since most families don't have pets, but of course every kid drew a cat (even though I said this isn't the "right" answer, it's just an example). I started asking the kids if they even had a pet cat and most of them said no! So then I decided I needed to have an example other than the 6 questions I presented. In the last class I went to, I said, if one of the questions was "what is your favorite holiday?" and your answer was Christmas, then you could draw a Christmas tree to represent your answer. I told them this is what I wanted them to do with the 6 questions I gave them. Well one of the questions was, "name three things you like to do in your free time" and guess what every single kid said? They drew a Christmas tree and said they like to celebrate Christmas in their free time!!! I looked at the board and the tree I had drawn happend to be next to this question. I GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!