Watch Out for Water Balloons!

As many of you know, Brazil has a huge celebration in February called Carnival that happens right before Lent begins. Well it turns out that Peru also has Carnival and Cajamarca happens to have the biggest celebration. Of course that means that there will be lots of drinking, partying, and parades, but apparently there is also a day where everyone goes out and throws balloons at each other, but they could be filled with anything from water to paint, oil, or even urine (so I’ve heard)! Even though it sounds gross, it is supposed to be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to going. Even though that big party day isn’t until Feb. 17th this year, the “playing” (as they call it) has already begun. I had only been back in site a few days when I saw these kids drenched from head to toe in the Plaza. I couldn’t imagine they were so wet just from the rain since it was only drizzling and then I noticed they were holding a bucket and one of the little girls said, “get her WET!” Luckily they weren’t talked about me, but I quickly realized what was going on. Another volunteer warned us that anytime after Jan. 1st is free game in Cajamarca to throw water balloons (the paint, oil, etc. is only the one Saturday thank God) in preparation for Carnival. So I got out of there really quickly and now walk everywhere paranoid. A few days later Jessica and I were walking home to my house and we were both carrying a lot of things. We walked by this huge truck, praying that they didn’t have anything to throw at us (as the gringas, we are prime targets). We walked by without anything happening and thought we were safe. Haha, yeah right. About two blocks later they drove by and threw a big bucket of dirty water at us. Jessica was so pissed because it got all in her eye and was burning. I didn’t get as wet as she did, but was still really annoyed. I can see it being fun if you want to play too, but if you’re not playing, it can be really frustrating. At the next corner, we saw a group of little boys with water balloons and a super soaker water gun waiting to peg us. We ran into a store and asked if they sold water balloons. They didn’t, but the lady gave us a big bowl full of water instead. Jessica stepped out the door, yelled “CUIDADO” (be careful) and threw the water at them. Of course then we really got them riled up, but we were stuck in the store so we dashed out and started booking it down the street (in our boots and carrying all of our stuff). I was ready to kill Jessica. I started screaming, “I didn’t want to get involved in this and now look at us!” We both ran for cover in the first place we found – she went into a store and I went into some random house! When I thought the coast was clear, I went out into the street shouting her name and found her in a store where she was buying ammunition for us. We left the store each carrying three water balloons in hand. Turns out it works really well to scare the kids because they were no longer interested in us when we had our own balloons. We found another little boy at the next corner and he asked us if we wanted to play with him. Since we were already wet, we thought, why not and started throwing our balloons. None of us got hit since we were able to dodge all of the balloons, but it was still fun! What is NOT fun is just getting randomly hit when you’re on your way somewhere. On Sunday I was walking through the Plaza and had 5 balloons thrown at me, but none of them hit me. I know it’s coming soon though so I try not to go anywhere in the afternoon because I don’t want to get drenched by a huge bucket. I’ve only been hit by a few, and not too bad, but I’ve heard that when they really get you, it hurts a lot. I had my first youth group meeting on Monday and 3 of the 5 girls arrived soaking wet – poor things! What is worse is that if people see that you got hit, everyone will try to get you so sometimes you’ll have 8-10 balloons in a row thrown at you! Yesterday I decided I wasn’t going to deal with it so I bought my own balloon and filled it up to carry with me as I walked and scare all of the little kids away. I didn’t even fill it up enough so it wouldn’t have done anything, plus as Giff says, I probably wouldn’t be able to hit the kid anyway since I have such bad aim, but it scared them and I didn’t get wet so that is all I care. Rita thinks I’m so funny for walking around with my balloon, but I don’t care, I’m not getting wet. Yesterday a woman from the health center, Katy, invited me to her house. We walked up there at 5 pm when it’s the worst. Before we went to her house, I went home and changed into my rain coat and then we walked pegged against the walls because people dump big buckets of water out their windows or balconies! Oh man I can’t wait for Feb. 17th to get here! In other news, my first youth group meeting went pretty well. I invited 19 girls ages 12-23 with the idea that I’d split them into two groups (the younger girls in one, older girls in another). The meeting was supposed to start at 3 pm and by 3:45 I only had 5 girls so I decided to start anyway. There were two 12 year olds, one 13, one 17, and one 20 year old, but we had a great time. I decided to start with just girls because I thought it would be easier to form a relationship with them and discuss some of the sensitive and controversial issues we’ll be addressing. I’ll start something with boys later, but for my first group, I felt more comfortable starting with just girls – plus with all of the machismo, I thought they could use it. The girls were really shy at first (except the 12 year old girl, Nayla, I took to camp ALMA with me back in November), but by the end they had opened up a little. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves and said they would come to the next meeting (which is this afternoon with my APCD from Lima!). We already talked about things we could do in the future and they seemed motivated and excited. I say seem about all of their actions because they are hard to read and might promise to come back, but it’s possible I’ll never see them again. I hope they keep coming because I had fun with them and am looking forward to working with them. Nayla sent me about 6 text messages that night to say she had so much fun and wanted to help me with whatever she could because she really likes me. So cute! The running/training for the marathon is going pretty well. So far the most I’ve run is only 4 miles (or so – I have no way of measuring a mile so I just do it based on 10 minutes of running), but I go running every other day so I feel good about it right now. I have to start somewhere. I’m getting a little nervous because I can’t find the race listed on the website that my friend who ran it last year told me about. They still only have the 2006 races listed so I’m praying they’re having it again. The last race was the 5th annual so I’m hoping they’ll continue onto the 6th annual, but we’ll see. If not, I told Giff I’ll just run 26.2 miles by myself one day and call it my marathon because I don’t want to just give up now that I’ve decided to do it. Plus it’s nice to have something to work for – I need that to help me get through the tough times. The other day it was a lot warmer in the morning than it normally is so I was dying by the end of the 45 minutes. When I got home all I wanted to do was jump in the shower, but I didn’t feel like waiting for the water to boil so I decided to go for it anyway. BAD IDEA that water is freaking cold no matter how sweaty you are. I guess it was kind of refreshing in a way, but judging by the fact that I had to step out of the water to catch my breath makes me think I probably won’t do that again. So you know how I’ve told you how blunt Peruvians are (they haven’t told me I’m fat in a while though so that’s nice – now they think I’m actually getting skinnier), well the other day I was at Rita’s house and Melany said, “Kristen look, you have a big pimple on your forehead just like my mom does!” Thanks Melany. Last but not least, I realized that I never told you what Christmas is like here. I was way too excited about going home to think about Christmas in Peru. Hana was saying that in her site no one really does anything for it and if they had a tree, it was just green paper on a stick that they put in an empty can. In my site, they did a little more, but not much. I think I told you that I helped the doctor and his family decorate for Christmas so that was really fun. They have a 6 ft. tall fake tree so it resembled Christmas in the States more than anywhere else here. Rita’s family also has a fake tree and they do their nacimiento (nativity scene). Having a nacimiento in the house is much more common than having a Christmas tree. One woman who works at the health center, Consuelo, has one so big in her house that people come to see it. It takes up an entire room from floor to ceiling. They are really cool looking and have everything from antique dolls, baby Jesus, etc. to Barbie furniture. I guess you could compare some of them to the Christmas villages people do in the States, but they are not exactly the same. They celebrate Christmas on the 24th. They go to church and then have a huge turkey dinner with paneton (fruit cake) and hot chocolate at midnight. The 25th isn’t really a big deal here, nor are presents. Hana was saying that people from her town that have moved to Lima send presents to the kids in her town, but I don’t think they do that here. It’s hard to say since I wasn’t here, but I haven’t heard anything like that before. Rita told me they basically only give presents to the kids. Each aunt and uncle buys a present for all of the kids and the adults don’t really do anything for each other (though Rita always gets a present from her mom). It sounds like it is more of a celebration in my site than it was for Hana, but that is only based on a few families. For me it never really felt like Christmas even though some businesses decorated and some houses too. In the States, you can feel that Christmas is in the air, but I never got that here. I’ve already written so much so I better stop now. My boss is coming this afternoon to visit and observe me. I’ll let you know how that goes when I can. Tomorrow she invited me to do site development for her for a new volunteer from Peru 9. Then I will hopefully be traveling to the coast with my host family to go to a wedding (as long as we can get my boss to say yes) so I don’t know when I’ll be able to write again. I hope you’re all doing well. I miss you all like crazy!

Things are Picking Up

If things had continued on the way the were going when I first got back, I don’t know if I could have stuck it out. I told Giff I would feel like such a loser for quitting Peace Corps since I’ve wanted to do this for so long, but I wasn’t sure I could hack it. It’s HARD. Luckily, things are starting to pick up so I think I’ll make it.

The first big news I have to report is that I’m training to run a marathon! I know, I’m crazy, but that’s what happens when you’re depressed. I have to pull myself out of it somehow. Haha. That’s only slightly true. The real reason is that some of my friends in Peace Corps (who have been here a year longer than me) ran a marathon in Lima last September and when I came to Peru, one of my goals was to become more of a runner. I knew I wanted to stay in shape while I was here and thought that running might be the only way so I told myself I was going to become one of those people who actually liked running. I tried it when I first got to site and hated it. It’s so much harder here from the altitude (around 7,000 feet) besides the fact that I get lots of comments and whistles and most of the running is uphill because Bambamarca is in a valley.

Giff and I talked about it over dinner one night while I was home and he encouraged me to do it, by starting slowly and building up from there. So when I got back I did a lot of research and found a great training program for beginners. I will spend the first 19 weeks running to build a solid base and the next 16 weeks training for the marathon. I’m still not positive there is a marathon because I can’t find any schedules for 2007, but I’m pretty sure it’s annual. I hope so! I emailed someone about it and am still waiting to hear back, but am continuing with the training in the meantime. The first time I ran it was a disaster and really frustrating. Most of it was uphill and I could only run for 2 minutes before I’d have to walk again. I did run 2, walk 2 for 24 minutes and then decided to turn around. On the way back, I was able to run 17 minutes straight (since it was flat or downhill) so that was a little more encouraging. The next time I ran for 20 minutes straight and now I’m up to 45 minutes! I found a road I like better that is flatter and downhill at the beginning and uphill at times on the return, but I like it and I’m really happy. Of course I think this is going to be really hard, but it will be something that I work for everyday until September and then after I run, I’ll have less than a year left here! I think I need a big goal like this to help me get through the rough times and I know it’ll be really rewarding in the end. As my mom says, if Oprah can do it, so can I!

I discovered this new road because last Tuesday Jessica and I went on a paseo (outing) with the girls we made friends with in our exercise class. The girls told us there are thermal baths around here so we decided to go. The place is about an hour away (probably 20 minutes in the States on a good road) and we rode the entire way in the back of a truck! I know it’s weird, scary, and completely dangerous, but that’s what everyone does here. It started raining on the way, but luckily a lady riding with us shared her huge pieces of plastic with us and we were able to somewhat cover ourselves. It was so funny, I felt like we were camping. Despite the crappy weather, it was absolutely beautiful in Naranjo (where the baths are). I felt like we were in Wonderland or something with the ominous clouds looming above and the drizzle giving everything a certain freshness to it. The baths are a little off the beaten path and it felt like we were trekking through the jungle to get there (with banana trees and thick vegetation surrounding us). When we arrived, 3 of the 5 girls, including Jessica, decided they didn’t want to go into the baths. I still wanted to go since that was the whole reason we were there so Rosita and I went in together (in our bathing suits of course). The water wasn’t burning hot as most hot springs are, but it was a perfect temperature. It was so comfortable that we ended up staying in there for 2 hours talking! It was really fun to be able to talk with someone my age and just get caught up in the moment – to forget about everything that had been bothering me and to forget, momentarily, about how much I missed Giff. The only reason we got out was because the other girls came in to get us because they were starving. I guess they had valid reason since it was 2:30 pm! Jessica and I had so much fun talking with the girls, gossiping, sharing stories and histories of our cultures, dancing, and laughing. It was definitely one of those “Peace Corps moments” where I really felt like I was in Peru. It was exactly what I needed after the rough week I had just had.

The girls invited me to go to the discoteca in Bambamarca with them on Friday night. Of course I was skeptical of what it would be like, but decided to go since it was better than sitting at home. Plus I was happy to be making friends and wanted to spend more time with them. I was about to put my pj’s on when it was almost 10 and they still hadn’t come (we were supposed to meet at 9), but then I heard Yanet calling my name from downstairs. They had invited a few of their guy friends so we all went together. The disco was actually nicer than I expected. I mean it wasn’t classy in any sense of the word, but it wasn’t as scummy as I imagined. The “club” scene here is different than in the States in the sense that you wait for someone to ask you to dance. At home, we all just dance together, but here the girls wait for a guy to ask them (since I’m the gringa, everyone wanted to dance with me – lucky me…..). At the beginning it wasn’t that crowded so everyone was dancing in a line. I thought that was really weird, but as the night went on, it became more “normal”. I also thought it was weird that I was definitely on the tall end of the crowd. Dancing with those guys, I felt like I was dancing with high school boys. It was so weird and all I could think about was Giff, wishing he was there with me so I wouldn’t have to dance with all of those weirdos. At the beginning of the night it was better because no one was drunk yet, but as the night went on, I got more and more annoyed as the guys would all try to touch me and ask me dumb questions about the States or try to speak English to me. First of all, it’s so loud in there that I can barely understand them in Spanish, and second of all, they can barely speak English anyway. In the middle of one song, one guy asked for my email address. Are you kidding me? I know you might think this sounds culturally insensitive, but sometimes I don’t want to be the center of attention, I don’t want to listen to people practice their English, I don’t want to hear how beautiful they think I am, and I certainly don’t want them touching me. I just want to enjoy myself without having to do the whole cultural exchange thing. Although it was fun in the beginning, after a while I had had enough and by 12:30 I was on my way home. Some guys offered to walk me home, but let me think about that for a second……..NO. I only live about a block from the disco so it wasn’t a problem. Plus Yanet left with me so she walked me the short distance home.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before that I met this guy named Jorge who is from Bambamarca, but has lived in Boston for the past 12 years. How ironic! Jessica and I met him right before I went home for Christmas. He comes to visit me a lot and always says he wants to help me with whatever he can because when he went to my country, a lot of people helped him. I always thought he was a nice guy until I found out the other day that he is cheating on his wife here. We were talking with Yanet and Rosita the other day and they told us they met our friend Jorge who lives in the U.S. Without knowing anything, we mentioned that we met him one day and he showed us pictures of his wife and two daughters who live in the States. The girls gasped because their friend is dating him and none of them knew he was married! GROSS! Unfortunately that is really common here, but it really bothers me and I know I’ll never get used to it. I don’t know how you could be in a relationship here and trust your partner because everyone cheats here and it’s common knowledge. There are even rumors about the doctor, but I choose not to think about that.

I was talking to Karina the other day about how Carlos (the professor that lives here) must be lonely without his wife and daughter here and she said, I wouldn’t worry about him, he’s definitely not lonely. Since then, I’ve seen a woman come to his room numerous times! Why? I don’t understand how you can cheat on someone. If you don’t want to be with them, then don’t be with them, but don’t cheat. It’s so disrespectful and disgusting. I know it happens in the U.S. too, but not nearly to the extent that it does here. In Peru, you are definitely in a small minority if you’re in a faithful relationship. No wonder everyone here always tries to tell me Giff must be cheating on me because if it was a Peruvian relationship, he probably would be. I hate to say that because I know there are exceptions, but it’s so unfortunate how commonly it occurs here. The reason I brought up Jorge is because I saw him at the disco the other night and he told me he knows the girls I came with. I asked how and he said, they are friends with my girl…..I mean, my friend. He was about to say girlfriend! He said, Kristen, you know I have my wife and kids at home, but you know how it is here, it’s different than in the U.S. and while I’m here, I have my “friend”. That is just disgusting. If it’s different and you know it, then why don’t you set an example and show people that men don’t have to be sleeze balls! Sorry for rambling on about that, but it really bothers me and it’s something I really dislike about this culture. Peruvians have many great qualities, but this is not one of them. In my youth groups, I’m definitely going to talk about this in hopes that I can help change this mentality.

One of the best things that is happening here and helping to brighten my spirits is that I’m becoming a lot closer to Karina. As much as I miss Chabu and the kids, it’s sort of good for me because it’s allowed me to spend more time with other people. I’ve been visiting Rita a lot more than I was before I left and I really enjoy my time with her. We always have really nice talks and she really seems to understand my feelings and what I’m going through. She is very supportive both personally and professionally in helping me get my youth group started (we have our first meeting on Monday!). Anyway, I’ve also been spending more time talking with Karina and I love it. She is such a sweetheart and has been confiding in me a lot. I know that she is lonely here, and so am I, so it’s nice to have each other. The other day I was talking to my mom on Skype and Karina got to “meet” her since we both have webcams. I translated while they talked and she told my mom that I’m her best friend here! I couldn’t believe she said that – it meant so much to me.

Last night I went to this dog show with Rosa, Galvez, and Emily (my host parents and the baby). It was one of those shows where they do lots of tricks with dogs. They had one dog jump over fire hurdles and its fur caught on fire! I couldn’t believe it! Only in Peru. Of course they also had a soccer game between the dogs since they are so fanatic about dogs here and they ended a show with this little wedding between two poodles. Despite the fire, it was really fun and we laughed a lot. My favorite part was probably when the dogs would stop to pee right in the middle of an act. Haha. Even though it was just a show where we sat and watched, I felt like I really bonded with my family. We all had so much fun together and I felt really happy. Karina had really wanted to go, but couldn’t because Rosa wouldn’t let her. Karina has been working at the internet all day everyday for the past week without a break since we’ve been here alone and now that Rosa is here, and Karina could have a break, she won’t give her one. Karina came to my room last night and talked to me about how upset she was with Rosa because of the way she treats her. She said Rosa is the owner of the business and even though it is Karina’s responsibility to run it, she doesn’t think Rosa treats her well (sometimes she comes in and yells at her in front of all of the customers). She told me she cried after we left to go to the show because she felt so frustrated. I told her I really understand because that’s how I felt when I first got here. I didn’t understand Rosa’s personality and felt that we clashed a lot. We had a really nice talk and I was glad she came to talk because I want her to feel that she can confide in me when she needs someone. It’s something we both really need. She was very appreciative and told me that I treat her more like a sister than her own sister does. I was really flattered, but I also hope things will get better between the two of them because I don’t like to see Karina so upset.

Back in Peru

Well I’ve now almost been back in the country for 2 weeks, but let me tell you, it seems way longer than that. For the first week I was back here, I cried everyday and wondered why the heck I came back when I was so happy being with Giff. However, I know this is the right thing for me right now so I just kept trying to tell myself that things will get better (although it was hard to believe) and eventually they have. It has now been 6 whole days since I last cried, which I feel is quite an accomplishment given my state of mind when I first got back.

I’m going to back track a little bit to give you a glimpse into the nightmare I experienced getting back to site. I didn’t arrive in Lima until almost midnight on Jan. 1st (technically the 2nd), but was happily greeted by Kathleen (training director for Peace Corps) and her husband Leo. It was nice to see familiar faces after the emotional goodbye with Giff. I’m sure I would have had an emotional breakdown upon stepping foot into Peru if I had been alone. Once we got to their house, I quickly called Giff to let him know I had made it safely and finally went to bed around 2 am. It felt like the longest day of my life.

The next morning I had a nice breakfast with Kathleen and Leo. Leo is Peruvian and knows a lot about his country’s history so it was interesting to talk with him. After breakfast I went to buy some pirated DVDs (from what I hear, it’s a long rainy season) and then hung out around the house while they ran errands. That was the first time I was alone since I got back and I realized pretty quickly that I was not ready for that yet and started crying. Luckily I wasn’t alone too long and of all the people in Peru, Kathleen is probably one of the best people to be around if you’re feeling down. She is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met and has a very gentle spirit. She was very understanding of my sadness and reminded me that I’m here in Peru for a reason and for the rest of my life I’ll be able to look back at this experience as a very rewarding one.
Kathleen and Leo took me out to lunch at this very good Chinese restaurant before we left for the airport. My flight left at 3 pm so they said they’d get me to the airport by 2. I was getting a little nervous when it was 1:30 and we still hadn’t left the restaurant (especially since we had to stop by their house first to get my bags). Well you can probably guess what happened, we didn’t get to the airport until 2:40 pm and they wouldn’t let me on the plane! I MISSED MY FLIGHT! I couldn’t believe it. Of course that was the last flight of the day to Cajamarca so they told me to come back the next morning at 4 am to get on the first flight out. The flight was full so I had to get there so early to put my name on the standby list! Oh boy.

As you can imagine, Kathleen and Leo felt horrible, but as Kathleen says, maybe it was for the better because I probably needed a little more time before going back to my site. They treated me to ice cream and then we watched The Pursuit of Happyness (I had told them about it at breakfast and we found it when shopping for DVDs in the morning). For dinner we went to his really nice grocery store (where you feel like you’re in the States because it’s so nice) and bought good bread, cream cheese, and olives (dinner is really light here). I briefly talked to my parents and Giff that day to tell them what happened. I thought what happened to me was bad until I talked to my parents. The nightmare they were experiencing trying to fly from North Carolina to California was way worse! I guess what made mine seem so bad was the feeling that I didn’t want to be in Peru – I just wanted to get back on the plane and go back home to Giff.
We got up at 3 the next morning to get to the airport on time. By the time the ticket window opened and I put my time on the list it was about 4:30. I had to wait until 5:15 until they told me I would be able to fly. Of course I had to pay excess baggage fees for all of the crap I carted back with me. This airline also makes you weigh yourself with your carry-on luggage and they told me I weighed too much so I had to check my carry-on as well! Between my luggage and taxes, I had to pay $42! I was so annoyed since that is over 100 soles (10% of my monthly stipend), but I didn’t have time to argue as my flight left in 25 minutes and I couldn’t afford to miss another one. When I got on the plane, the tears began to flow again as everything started to sink in even more. I was praying there was a mistake and this plane would somehow end up in Del Rio, TX, but instead everything went as scheduled and I arrived in Cajamarca at 7:30 am.
My friend Amanda was in town so I crashed in her hotel room. She was coming back from a trip as well, so we decided to spend the day in the city together and go back to our sites the next day. To be honest, being in Cajamarca felt much better than Lima because I know the city and I feel comfortable there. In Lima, it was too much like the States and it just made me want to go home. We had a nice breakfast together, I tried to nap (impossible with thin walls and people yelling at the hostal), we ran errands, and had bread, wine, cheese, and olives for dinner as we watched Little Miss Sunshine on my computer.

Upon arriving at the bus station the next morning to finally go back to Bambamarca, I found out there were no tickets left. Great! Luckily there is another bus station right next door that is a little grungier, but I had to go. To no one’s surprise, I cried three times on the way home, but tried to hold it together as best I could since I was not ready to have an emotional breakdown among all of these Peruvians on the bus. When I finally got to Bambamarca, Jessica was waiting for me at my house and I couldn’t have been happier. That was exactly what I needed. My host mom wasn’t home since she works during the week, but Karina was so happy to see me that she almost started crying (because she was worried I wouldn’t come back)! It was so sweet and really made me feel welcome.

Jessica had discovered a gym in town that offers exercise classes Monday – Friday at 5 pm so we tried to go to that, but no one was to be found at the gym (welcome back to Peru). Jessica asked if I wanted her to spend the night or if I just wanted to be alone after all of the traveling and I told her I’d cry if she left so she stayed. We had a lot of fun unpacking my stuff, catching up, eating mac & cheese for dinner, and watching FRIENDS. However, when she left the next morning and I was really alone for the first time since I got here (all of the other times I was alone were brief), I let it all out and cried for 45 minutes. It was so hard to think about being back here for another year and a half after I had just had the best 10 days with Giff. I hurt inside because I missed him so much already. I felt like I’d never stop crying and never be happy here again. But luckily I have great friends here who know how hard it is to be away from home and are very supportive of me. My mom and Giff were also incredibly supportive. Giff said he was depressed too, but that I just have to think about all of the positives about being in Peru and know that we can do this and can talk to each other everyday and before we know it, we’ll be seeing each other again.

Mom suggested I try to keep myself really busy to keep my mind off of it and help me get back into the swing of things, and I tried, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about Giff. I was having such a hard time. For the first week I was back, I woke up every morning thinking, I don’t want to be here and would start crying. I tried to do what Giff said, and think about the positives, and I came up with a lot, but I still felt like they didn’t add up to the one thing that was missing – Giff. This is so hard, but as much as I want to go home, I know I can’t because I’ll be so disappointed in myself and will always regret it.

Jessica and I spent a lot of time together in my first few days back in site. I don’t know what I would do if she weren’t here. I would probably consider going home even more. I really needed that American company and she knew it. We were able to go to an exercise class (Tae Bo) the next two days and had a blast. The classes are as good as any that we’ve been to at home so that was a big pick me up for both of us. Working out is definitely a release for me and it felt so good to have a great workout (plus Jessica has a crush on our teacher – we call him Jim since he works as the gym, but his name is really Wilson – creative, I know). Haha. We joke that maybe Jessica will marry him even though he is married with kids. Another bonus from the class is that we made two friends, Yanet who is 24 and Rosita who is 21. They came over on Saturday and hung out with us for about an hour and a half. It was so much fun and Jessica and I were both excited to have some Peruvian friends! Unfortunately they both go to college in another city and are only here for vacation, but we’ll take advantage while we can.

When Jessica isn’t around, I try to keep myself busy by hanging out with Rita or my family. I gave Rita and her family their Christmas presents and they loved them so that was fun for me. I also told Rita that I’m really sad and having a hard time being back so I’ll need a lot of support. She is so great and understanding that she has been calling me to check on me and invite me places so I’m not alone. I’m also getting along SO much better with my host mom. She was so happy to see me and told me they missed me a lot. Rita told me that my host mom said she was sorry we don’t get to talk more, but it’s hard since she is gone during the week and the weekends are always so busy. Since I’ve been back though, it seems like we’ve been talking a lot more and I feel a lot more comfortable around her. Her dad (who comes on Sundays to sell his cheese) even told me they missed me so much over Christmas and tried calling my cell phone twice! It really made me feel good since I had such a rocky start with this family. Now I wouldn’t move even if I was given the choice. That is a huge accomplishment in my opinion. I think one of the reasons things are so much better now is that they feel like they can trust me. They were all really worried I wouldn’t come back and now that I have, it’s almost like I’ve proved to them that I’m trustworthy and I stick to my word.

As time goes on, I know things will get easier, but for now, it’s still really hard. I realized the other day part of the reason why this time leaving Giff seems harder than the first time. When I left him last time, I came to Peru and had 10 weeks of training where I was constantly surrounded by 35 Americans who could understand what I was going through. Plus, one of them was Hana and I could talk to her about Giff and our life at home and it seemed easier. But this time I don’t have that and I feel really alone. As I said earlier though, I’m really lucky to have Jessica here, but it still is so hard. I don’t want to wish my time here away because I’m sure I’ll look back on it and really miss it, but it’s hard not to wish for it to go by quickly when I know that finishing my service means that Giff and I can be together again. C’est la vie.

Oh yeah, by the way, as a nice reminder that I’m back in Peru, yesterday morning I walked into the kitchen to make my breakfast and I open the door on my host mom and dad each holding a dead cuy (guinea pig) and plucking it’s fur out. Next they dropped it in boiling water and I assumed that was it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, later in the afternoon I was washing my clothes and looked up to see four cuys hanging out to dry (guts exposed) on the clothesline! EWWWWWWW! Oh lord I can’t handle this. I don’t care if they’re going to eat them, but I certainly do not want to SEE the whole process. I have pictures so stay tuned on Snapfish…..I know you’re dying to see them…..

Christmas at Home!

It’s been a while since I’ve written because I went HOME for Christmas! Unfortunately, I got really sick the day before I left to travel to Cajamarca. I had diarrhea and was throwing up all night. I felt horrible and couldn’t believe my bad luck after I had been looking forward to the delicious food at home for months. When I was sick, the thought of food (even a bagel and cream cheese) made me feel nauseous! I didn’t have an appetite for three days, which for me is unheard of. So after all of these months of dreaming of American food, I was living off of baby food and bread in the days leading up to my trip. Luckily I was feeling fine by the time I arrived on American soil and was able to fulfill my dream of having a bagel with cream cheese as my first meal in the States. I was in heaven!

My flight home was fine, but seemed to take forever – especially knowing that I would finally get to see Giff when I arrived. I was at the airport in Cajamarca at 2:30 pm and didn’t arrive in the States until 9:00 am! I had a 6 hour layover in Lima and just had to sit there with all of my luggage for four hours until the counter for Delta opened. As you can imagine, I drove myself crazy waiting, but luckily while I was in line to finally check my bags, I saw another Peace Corps volunteer, Katie, and was able to spend the last hour with her. My flight was supposed to leave at 1:20 am, but of course was delayed until 2:30 am. I promised Giff I would try to sleep as much as possible on the plane so I wouldn’t fall asleep at 8 pm our first night together, but they turned the lights on at 7 am so that plan didn’t go so well. Luckily my adrenaline was running so high from finally seeing him that we were fine.

As some of you already know, Giff and I both flew into Atlanta and spent the night there before driving to his parent’s house in Charlotte, NC the next day. I arrived first and must have peed about 14 times in the hour and a half I waited for him because I was so excited. Seeing him for the first time in almost 7 months was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had! I wish I could relive that first day together over and over because it felt so great to be together again. After seeing Giff almost everyday for the past 5 years, I felt like we had been away for an eternity. I can’t even describe how amazing it felt to finally be with him again. As cliché as it sounds, it felt like a fairy tale being able to spend 10 straight days together. It felt like I had never left. It was better than I ever imagined.

We went to a delicious Italian restaurant for dinner. It was really small and romantic. They make their own pasta in house so you can imagine how good it was (especially to me who has been living off of rice and potatoes). After dinner Giff surprised me by driving me to Ben & Jerry’s and getting us a pint of my favorite ice cream – Oatmeal Cookie Crunch – yum! He’s the best! We spent the evening at the hotel just enjoying being together again and catching up. It felt so comfortable to be together again. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

After spending our first 24 hours together alone, we drove to his parent’s house on Christmas Eve. It was really great to see his family and they all welcomed me with open arms. I really felt like I had come home. All day I was anticipating the arrival of my parents, but spending time catching up with Carol (Giff’s mom) and soaking up everything I had missed for the past 6 months helped passed the time. After a delicious dinner, Giff and I left to go pick my parents up at the airport and you can imagine what an exciting reunion that was for all three of us. I was definitely on cloud nine.

My only request while I was home was to go to church on Christmas Eve. I didn’t want to have a full schedule while I was home because I wanted to just be able to enjoy everyone’s company. Going to church on Christmas Eve is one of my favorite traditions so I was really looking forward to be able to share that with Giff for the first time. During the service I found myself getting very emotional. I wasn’t quite sure why, but I think everything was finally sinking in. I thought about my family in Peru and how they were spending their Christmas Eve compared to me. I started to feel really badly thinking about how much more we have as Americans compared to them. I wish I could take them home with me just to give them a glimpse of our lives, but at the same time, the humbleness that results from poverty is endearing and something I have grown to love about the Peruvian culture. I was crying for them and crying because I felt so lucky to be at home with my family and have the opportunity to spend Christmas with all of my loved ones, while most of my friends were spending Christmas in a foreign country with different traditions. It’s hard to put my thoughts and emotions into words other than to say they were very powerful.

Unfortunately I was somehow able to pass the virus I had in Peru along to Giff and he got really sick on Christmas Eve. Here he paid all of this money for me to come home and I made him sick. I felt so bad. He was up all night throwing up and I was up all night worrying about him. It was definitely a Christmas to remember. Luckily for him it only lasted about 24 hours, but since his stomach was still feeling so weak, he was only able to eat 2 rolls for Christmas dinner! I felt horrible, but I must admit, better him than me since I had been dreaming about that delicious food since September when we bought my ticket to go home!

Christmas day was really fun – opening presents, eating good food, and watching the Eagles beat the Cowboys!!! The festivities continued the next day with Amanda’s arrival! Of course we were ecstatic to see each other and jumped right into cooking and baking – our favorite thing to do together. The next days were spent running errands buying presents for my Peruvian friends and family, my fellow volunteers who of course deserve a few of their favorite things from home, and of course a few things for myself to take back with me. We also watched a bunch of good movies so that was exciting for me. Carol was nice enough to let my mom, Amanda, and I take over the kitchen and make some of my favorite dinners, and of course desserts, while I was there so I could get my fill of American food. There wasn’t really anything too out of the ordinary, but it was definitely one of my favorite Christmas’. To be able to go home and spend the holidays with the people I love most was really special and something I will never forget. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend and loving family (including the Blooms and Amanda)!

Our New Year’s Eve was a little non-traditional as we usually spend it with our friends from college, however, we both had a great time and I’d say it was definitely one of our best nights together. We went out to a late dinner (had to watch the Eagles beat the Falcons first) at a new restaurant in Charlotte. The food was delicious and the company perfect. It was a very romantic evening. I didn’t want to leave because I wanted the evening to last forever. We returned to Giff’s house to watch the ball drop and ring in the New Year with our families. We were laughing that we were at a party where almost everyone was our parents’ age, but we ended up having a great time and a really fun night together.

As great as the night was, it was also sad because it was our last one together for another six months. We got up around 9 the next morning because we had to drive back to Atlanta to catch our flights. Saying goodbye to our families was sad, but nothing compared to what was to come later at the airport. The ride back to the airport went really smoothly. We talked about everything as we tried not to think about the inevitable goodbye. How could 10 days possibly be over already?

Arriving at the airport was kind of hectic as we couldn’t figure out where to return our rental car and then had to check into our flights at two different terminals (not to mention rearranging the weight in my suitcases so we only had to pay $25 in excess baggage fees instead of $100). Giff’s flight was supposed to leave 20 minutes after mine, but luckily it was delayed so he was able to walk me to my gate. That’s when it hit me for real. This was it for the next six months. My dream was ending and pretty soon it was back to reality. We reached my gate and just sat together and cried until it was time for me to leave. I wanted to look at him as much as I could in the last 20 minutes we had together, but I couldn’t because it just made me cry harder. Instead I just latched on to him and let him hold me. I sat there as long as possible because I didn’t want to board the plane. I couldn’t even entertain the idea of spending another six months apart let alone a year and a half. But when they made the final boarding call announcements, I decided it was time. I couldn’t delay any more. We kissed each other goodbye and I cried as I stood in line watching him disappear down the long hallway. Here I just had the best 10 days of my life and all I could think was, what am I doing? But I reminded myself that Peace Corps is something I’ve always wanted to do and I have to finish it.

So here I am, for better or worse, back in Peru.