in charge

so i am in lima helping out with trainings, getting trained and making sure the the parasites that i have to no do any permanent damage before i kick them out of my body. I was training the new volunteers who are refreshing in the sense that they make me realize just how far me and the rest of the volunteers have come. we all started out not really being able to speak spanish and scared and confused and not knowing what we werre doing here and no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. in retrospect i still have no idea what i am doing here but i think great things and maybe saving the world. i had my first encounter with the new group of health volunteers and they loved me they really loved me. and i had be so nervous but after talking with them i no longer had a single doubt that i would be an excellent leader for them and be able to help them do whatever it is they want. I know that i will be there to calm them down or lifgt them up and stop them from crying or wanting to go home. i still have to meet the previous group but all around i feel so much better about my decision to stay here. i thought i was taking such a huge risk but not only do i think that i will be able to take leaps and bounds in my career but also make a bunch of new friends and contacts and still learn so much more about myself and thiings of the world and psychology. i am truly excited and full of energy and ideas for all that is to come. and find myself at the same time being so calm about thigns that usually freak me out like how i have no idea what i will be working in or which community partner i will have and the fact that i will probably be homeless for about a month and then going to the states which has now become a whole world of the unknown and then being in charge of a fairly large group of people when i have never been the boss lady. all should sound overwhelming but i feel incredibly calm and then at the same time i find that both my mind and my body want to do yoga again and eat healthy food and get back to something that once felt so normal and good. i cannot wait for the uncertainty that the future brings for me and you, off to go watch some live music. lvoes

light at the end of the tunnel

So in a work sense things are running a bit smoother still doing anti parasite campaigns, giving food baskets, weighing children, teaching about nutrition and hygiene, training teachers about how to prevent malnutrition. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But happy. This past month I went to a concert of one of the most famous singers in Peru, he called me to the stage spent the whole night flirting with me, got off stage twice to talk with me. It was like being 13 again and having NSYNC tell you that you are pretty. Sigh it was awesome. Unfortunately, married so all interaction stopped at the end of the show. Though in my town they sell the video in which everything cannot believe that he payed so much attention to me including me. I have been in report mode everyday it seems like I have to write another report or presentation about my service and how it has gone and that it is ending. The other day I had a impromptu meeting with my mayor where he expressed his personal sadness that his town would be losing an important character in development, he thanked me for doing so much in two years and that it was very notable the success that I had and the changes I provoked here. It almost made me cry and then everyone else keeps talking about how I am already leaving and how sad it makes them feel which in turn also makes me feel sad because I am happily in the state of denial that I am leaving and plan to stay in that state until at least the second week of november just to keep myself sane. I have no idea how to say good bye. Lets see also I have recently become a waitress in my extended family's restaurant because my uncle has a foot wound from uncontrolled diabetes. I think it is hilarious because as I always suspected I do not have the right attitude to be waitress. I like giving hell and talking back. But since there is no tipping here there is really no losing anything. And actually the have sold out quite quickly every night that I work there. My cousin always jokes that we would sell faster if I would wear shorts or a mini skirt or show some cleavage. I just laugh and tell her I am not that type of girl. And I am not sure if I believe those types of outfits are sanitary for the food business. People keep talking about how they will be having a going away party for me I at least have 5 planned. And I am sure there will realistically be more. I am off to Lima for some meetings next week. Things are good but change as usual is nerve wrecking cannot wait to be on vacation much needed vacation hanging out with the friends and the family. Loves.

still in one piece

Ok so I am super sorry that I have not written in so long. I tried a few times but for problems with the internet or problems with the website I had not been able to get back. After re-reading the last blog tons has happened. First I am staying a third year however I will no longer be staying in my site. After many problems with health professionals and many rude words and poor treatment from my health center I decided it was no longer worth my time neither personally nor professionally to continue working with people that insist on making my life harder. Unfortunately, for my site they will have to continue to have a health provider that is deficient. As a result of this project though I have been able to succeed in getting my health center to shape up with the help of their bosses. It is always very ironic for me that all of the people in charge treat me with the utmost respect and all of their workers treat me like crap. But I do not let it get me down but rather am laughing in the face of adversity. The nutrition project is showing great results I have already recovered 9 children in one month. I am still waiting on the results of this month. I finished building improved cook stoves which took a workload off my back. I have treated almost 200 children for parasites. My friend molly came to visit for a week getting a day in the life of Andrea. I was so grateful to have a helping hand to get work done and overall impressed by her willingness and acceptance to new experiences. She even taught a nutrition session. It was great she learned how to take the height weight of the children and determine their nutrition status. I have to say that she really helped me realize that the work I am doing here is so important even though it can also be so challenging or overwhelming. It was great getting to share everything with her considering she is also a nutrition professional and seeing the grand difference between what I would be doing in the States with a nutrition degree and what I am doing here with a nutrition degree. Plus it was very interesting to hear that she was suffering the same growing pains that I am even though we are currently living in completely different realities. Then I was off to a much needed vacation to visit a friend that lives at the base of the highest mountain in Peru Huascaran. It was so beautiful and so relaxing and I had enough time to go hiking and breathe fresh air. We also went dancing in the capital and I visited a lagoon that had turquoise blue water and another place that had a rock forest. Everyday I went to bed happily exhausted from physical exertion instead of mental or emotional exertion. I read books, did yoga, cooked lunch for the first time in a very long time. Then I was off to Lima for meetings with the bosses in which we got to meet up with a group of volunteers that I have not seen in almost two years. It was great seeing how much we succeeded in doing for this country and how much a few people had changed. There was lots of laughter and a little bit of sorrow having to say good bye to friends. Also there were sessions where we talked about how to end our service and say good bye to our sites. In which case it became real that I had already completed my time here as fast as it has passed, it seems like yesterday I came and tomorrow I am leaving. Luckily I have two more months to finish this nutrition project. I have made a point to have a much calmer attitude in the face of so many problems and realize that I can only do so much. If things do not go perfectly that is perfectly ok. And thus I have spent more time enjoying the company of my friends and host family here going to eat and going dancing. We are entering the times of parties so first it begins that every weekend there are parties and then as we get to the end of October thru November there are parties every week and weekend. As a result of the decision that I would no longer be staying in my site for a third year my boss offered me and opportunity to work in the Lima office as the Coordinator of Volunteers for the Health Program, I was previously not certain it was a position that I really wanted but at the end of the day, when I received the offer I felt honored that many of my peers thought I would be a good fit for the job. I will be living and working with one of my best friends here so I feel much more comfortable with the decision. Life is good, I am happy I will be able to come home for a month to the states starting in December I will be on the East Coast and then after Xmas and for New Year’s I will be in Colorado. My dreams every night are already very USA focused. Cannot wait to see ya’ll hoping that everyone is surviving the crazy weather that you seem to be having over there.

good lord

So in the past weeks many things have happened or not happened and then still needed to happen. I have felt that there are not enough hours in the day to fit everything I absolutely need to do in. It has been really hard not to exhaust myself though it is apparent in the pains that my body give me. The other week was literally the hardest week I think I have ever had in all my service. I was working behind myself because my project almost got stolen by some crazy doctor and then the funding paperwork got behind so I was receiving my materials at the exact time when trainings were starting. We trained the health profesionals and teachers about the causes, consequences, and prevention of malnutrition. The goal with them is that they can work as promoters where they work in getting all the community well informed and improving nutrition and hygiene practices in both their work spaces as well as the mothers of family. It was rather concerning how little the health professionals knew about malnutrition and preventative health. The same day that we had to deliver food to the small towns we received in large sacks and had to break down everything into smaller bags and weigh every one of them. The paperwork, the insistence. The not having the key to the office that was storing the food and not being to get things where they needed to be. The project is excellent in practice when we are working with the moms and a train wreck in between hopefully it gets better now that the funding nonsense has worked itself out. I am traveling to 4 smaller towns which adds an hour on to every day. I am running deparasiting campaigns. With cooking classes and teaching about hygiene. I am building cookstoves and setting up for a training for volunteers next week. I have felt fairly out of control and hoping to stay on point. I have lost weight and started streamlining coffee again. There will be 30 people in my site learning about cookstoves, latrines, gardens, and animal husbandry. It is officially approved that I can stay in my site though after these weeks of work my only reaction to the news was to cry at the thought of staying. And how I cannot keep up what I am doing and working at this rate for even the rest of this year without falling apart. I am learning how to delegate though it has resulted in people making errors that then have to be fixed and leaves me thinking it would just be better to do the things myself. But people have to learn and I do not have time to do everything anymore. I am so indecisve it is so annoying. spent some days resting though dancing with friends for hours on end helps the soul. well off to bed. hope all is well in your lives.

vacations go and life goes on

Well many things are happening right now in my life. As usual I know you people probably think that I am the poster child for the saying the only thing constant in life is change. So in these past weeks I am now in charge of a huge project and am a little short of time in my life to be doing 3.5 projects at the same time. But multitasking has always been a strength so just have to keep pushing. But lets go back to last week when my family showed up, so nice to have the chance to show my life off to my mom and sister. I think sometimes it is impossible to be able to describe accurately my day to day life. I know that I talk a lot about work and that is well because pretty much my whole life is work. However, it was great getting to show them around to the chakras or fields where I spend my little free time singing at the top of my lungs in English without fear that someone is watching or listening. Then we headed to my Sunday hangout the river to play with the fishes and they got a kick out of the mototaxis getting stuck trying to cross the river and laughed harder at all the bouncing and jiggling that is produced when riding in these mototaxis. They were amazed at the constant traffic jam of goats, cows, donkey’s with carts, or sheep. They instantly fell in love with Peruvian food and even more so with my host mothers’ cooking so good. After a very necessary shower because of being covered in sweat and dust, we headed to meet the boyfriend’s family. It was great showing them that I have such a solid and entertaining support system. For the most part the two people who usually have the biggest mouths my boyfriend and his mother had their tongues stolen apparently by the cat. After some private conversations the air seemed to be a little less heavy. And they all went to my dance recital that I had prepared. It was my favorite moment to see my sister and mom laughing at me shaking my bad thang. And checking out the all to short or revealing costumes. The next day I had a meeting with the mayor and my boss about the future. The general consensus was that I have done excellent work and my community would like me to keep working another year here. My boss then said that it was an option and seemingly necessary as there is still so much work to do in my site. I think she left overall very impressed with my achievements and so while it is not written in stone yet. There is a really strong chance that I am staying in my site next year to be able to do the second part of my nutrition project, develop some sort of youth development and pregnancy prevention techniques, and build the bridge of communication between the schools, the municipality, and the health center. Waiting for a phone call depending on the situation I will be in the states for Christmas however if I do not get my paid month of vacation I will not be able to come out to Colorado. Then we headed to the beach for a few days of what I describe as gluttony because it was great food, laying around, playing on the beach, sleeping in, and no schedules. I unfortunately stepped on some animal in the water the first day which left me with a bleeding and painful bottom of my foot. It was not a stingray so I did not die. Then we came back to the city to get ready for Desi’s departure headed to check out some of the famous artesian work. Lots of buying of pretty things. Then the best dinner I have had in so long. No just for the food or the environment but rather for the company and conversations, 3 hours and way too much food, drinks, laughter, and money spent I felt like maybe this had been the future all along. I am realizing that sometimes we focus so hard on one future that we forget to look up and see if something better is sitting right in front of our noses. On my last day with mom I showed her that you can also live the good life here too. Went to a museum, got facials, got lunch, got coffee, went shopping and surprisingly felt like any Saturday in the states. I am so grateful that they were able to come experience my life and see my Peru and not just partake in the touristy stuff. I think they understand much more the reality that I face both the challenges and the rewards of what I do. They now have met all the most important characters of my soap opera which we have lovingly named “Tropical Storm”. I believe that my mom feels much more comfortable with me living here knowing that my support system is incredibly strong and loving. I feel rejuvenated not so much from being on vacation but rather because their trip reminded me why I am here and how important what I am doing truly is. And while it is never going to be easy I know the best things in life are worth fighting for. Lots of love keep ya’ll posted I should get the answer of whether or not I am for sure staying or going.

well

ok sorry guys that I did not blog for awhile I have been busy and busier. Back to dancing with the dance group, working, managing projects, traveling a little and trying to keep it together. I had applied for a third year leadership position and apparently was not the right fit so I think I am going to come home as of December. Then weird things started happening and I started feeling like I was supposed to stay in my site. So I talked with my boss about the option of staying in my site for another year and she said she did not know because we do not know the budget of 2012 still to be able to decide how many third year positions there will be. The reasons that I started thinking that I should stay is basically work started falling into place perhaps too much. I got an opportunity to design and manage a s/24,000 project. To recover and prevent malnutrition. Which is exactly what I have been wanting this whole time that I have been here and just did not get the time to make the effort. This literally fell into my lap and they gave it to me. So excellent. Really honestly stressful because I am still in charge of managing my sexual health promoters, accompanying them to teach classes, doing nutritional counseling, teaching in night school, helping on the parent school to make sure it does not fail, running my healthy households to soon be builiding improved cookstoves and now this project. Plus I received a phone call to say that there will be a training in my site in August. Then for some reason the health professionals at my health post finally started to think that I was actually worthwhile and want me to train them about health promotion and nutrition. Getting everything together to be able to take a lovely vacation with my sister and mom and get to show them the life I lead. I feel like it will be so interesting getting their perspective on my reality. Got the opportunity to go up to the mountains and take a bath in a mysterious lake I think it worked a little too well. It was a 3 hour hike one way and it was a trek because it had been raining so hiking up and down hills steep hills in straight mud. I did not fall but my friend did. exhausting, freezing. Getting into the lake was like the polar bear plunge because the water was freezing cold it burned my skin. It was hilarous because I had put on my bikini a bikini in the mountains in the rain running in an open field shivering and yelling thinking that getting into the lake would be an improvement and finding out I was chillingly mistake. I thought I was going to get pnemonia or hypothermia. I spent three hours after we got home trying to get the feeling back into my feet. The future is so uncertain I have to admit I got nervous at the thought of coming back to the states and having total culture shock and being unemployed, and not being able to dance like 4 times a week and not get to be my own boss anymore. And having to be punctual and live in a place with so many laws. But if I have to come home I think that it will be great to be close with the friends and family and get to check out the next chapter in my life. I was disappointed to have not gotten the job because well I really did not think that I would have gotten rejected. But it happened. And then I felt silly for having always thought that I would have been here for another year and now it might not happen. I can only wait now to see if staying in my site is a realistic option. Tomorrow is the yearly meeting for the budget for my district where I will be trying to get funds for improved cookstoves and the second stage of the nutrition project. There is so much to get done in these months to come. I would like to congratulate the newly engaged. best of luck lizann. love yall.

ships ohoy

I think that is how you spell it. Anyways work is going at speed lightening rate because well it kind of has to. I was in my site for four days after my vacation getting organized, having meetings and trainings, trying to make sure that everything was in place. The craziest thing happened I have recently started working with the Mother of the church. She is religious but incredibly straight forward, no bullshit. Well traveled, and runs on full speed. So she wants to do a improved cook stove project so she signed me up to train some 150 people about the subject in her next meeting which entailed me up on an alter with a big jesus hanging behind me talking about how to do one of these projects. I also had to build one as an example.Never could I have ever imagined I would get the opportunity to be preaching on an alter and cannot say I would like to do it again though I heard in September I may have to in order to do a Nutrition Training. It was amazing and I am not exactly sure how many improved cook stoves will come out of that presentation but none of them will count as my work because they are out of my district. Then there was my birthday which I passed with friends drinking and dancing and drinking and dancing and eating ceviche and going to a mass for my friend's dad that passed away on my birthday last year. terribly unfortunate but reason enough for my friend to have returned from Lima to La Matanza. It was nice hanging out with my brothers and then I headed to Piura to dance in a club with some other friends. The next day I was headed to Paita to translate for the US Navy ship the USNS COMFORT. I spent three days there working in the OR, the patient admission, ICU, recovery. Talking with families, explaining procedures and symptoms between the patients and the doctors. It was neat being practically inside a modern hospital that I would expect to see in the states but it was on a ship. I only got sea sick when I was eating because that was located on the top floor. I got lost a few times because you had to use certain stairs to get to certain places. It was strange being surrounded by Americans and all in uniforms. I broke many rules like wearing shorts the first day when I arrived, and wearing sandals, I could not be punctual if I tried so I resorted to running in the halls also illegal. I almost kissed a boy but I figured that would have just been rebellious so I did not. Also I did a presentation about cultural sensitivity after observing their operation outside and on the ship. So that they could better serve the Peruvian population. I did that presentation which was about 15 minutes for about 100 of the most important people on the ship doctors, captains, the commodore. All in uniform all much older than me with a lot of work experience and all intimidating. Me on a microphone again. I worried that they would take it as criticism that I would say something inappropriate halfway through my speech I realized there were two Peruvians in the audience from the Embassy that spoke English so I got nervous I would some how offend them with the information I was presenting. Afterward though I got a strong applause followed by at least 15 people coming up to thank me saying it was the best debrief they had received since arriving to any of their destinations and that they would be using the information as of tomorrow. Then the 2 peruvian women came up my heart swallowed a bit but they were smiling and told me that was the best presentation just the things that they would have also suggested that I clearly knew the culture and the people. Followed by the commodore calling me over. To thank me and then ask me to write a document for them to have so that they did not forget anything I said and could implement my every suggestion. I almost started crying simply because I did not expect such a positive response or that what I had done to be so useful to them. Needless to say it was an excellent experience my first time translating which I have decided I am really no good at because I always want to throw in my own words or tweak the message. I had to get back to site even though I was invited to stay for the remaining 4 months and travel to the other 6 countries. so flattering. I remembered who I was on that ship and what I was capable of doing. I also got my organization involved with an NGO that works on amazing water chlorinating projects. And made contacts with regional municipality to bring my organization to them and with this other girl whom i deem the queen of development. The food was good there was skim milk ha! I made myself sick drinking too much of it I think I am now lactose intolerant. Then I had to return to my life in my small town. Damn it I am a big fish. Any who, doing good things keeping going with the projects right now I am in cram time I think I may have once again tried to do to much in too little time. Only 5 months to go, and still waiting to hear if I get to stay or not a third year. But that would be a different position. That's all for now.

jungle

so i spent the first day hiking up to the first waterfall and bathing in freezing cold water. on the way down we got to try various local liquors made from berries and other tropical fruits mixed with something similar to moonshine. Then we headed to a different lagoon to go swimming and kayaking. I accidentally stole someone's kayak. the next day we went to a different town that was having an Easter Celebration. so we got to check out an artisan fair with a lot of ceramics and wood work, a gastronomic fair were my friend any I ate probably six plates of food. Ceviche, fish grilled in a palm leaf, chicken grilled in a palm leaf, 2 plates of donuts, and flavored ice chips. We checked out a reenactment of the passion. Then went to check out the church. and 2 coffee shops. It was a lovely day as the streets were filled and others blocked off and completely painted with gorgeous images of Jesus. Oh and there was a castle a real castle in the middle of this little poor town a beautiful castle being built by some Italian guy, i do believe it is the only castle in all of Peru. The next day we traveled to the blue lagoon, we had to cross a river in a ferry that carried the cars and then headed on really muddy roads to the lagoon. then took a boat across the lagoon to our own private dock and hiked a little in the jungle saw a centipede that my friend did not realize was dangerous. had to keep my eyes on her because she likes to touch everything and rarely knows whether it could kill her or not. though i enjoyed her company a lot (Emma) because she is a spontaneous and sometimes brave character that loves traveling. so anyways we went swimming a bit and I did yoga on my dock and then a crazy rain storm rolled in for like 15 minutes and we were stuck in a cloud and the thunder seemingly vibrated the once tranquil lagoon and then it passed and the sun came back with strength and the lagoon was once again a strong sea blue. In the afternoon we took a walk to the next town, got picked up by a catering van to another town along the way, went back to hiking and then got picked up by a truck. By the time we were truly on our way it was already pretty late and the road was closed until six because of construction in which I thought one of the guys from the trucks waiting in line to pass was going to rip of this girl's head, then two other trucks wanted to pass and were stopped by two other guys standing in front of their cars. At six we continued saw a live viper that was then masterfully run over by a truck and picked up to be cooked for later. Once outside of the desired destination we ran into a 8 wheeler stuck in the mud trying to get up this hill which consequently blocked our path. so stuck again and the sun already set at six thirty we contemplated walking again though after realizing that neither of us had batteries for our small flash lights we waited for the truck to be pulled up the hill by ropes and twenty men. Man power better than wheel power. At 830 we finally got to the town and exhausted we showered and went to bed. Following morning we woke up early to hike two hours to another waterfall. It was muddy and one had to be very careful where they placed their foot so as not to slide down the hill. We took a guide because the senora at the hostel insisted it was necessary. it was thank you senora. we got to a river and had to cross it by foot because there was no bridge we had to then climb large rocks to get to the next pass. then came on great rock that we had to climb down to pass the river again. Emma fears falling I never thought i would get her to scale down but she did with some convincing then the guy said we had to swim across the river in a deeper part. but Emma did not want to again because she is not such a strong swimmer. with more coxing we got he across. I think at that point she hated me a little bit. crossing slippery rocks we finally got to a intensely falling waterfall. it was gorgeous. i only almost got sucked down the river once and only fell on the rocks once both i consider impressive for my clumsy nature. We hiked back another two hours and the guide was surprisingly more tired than us, I think it is because we walked at a faster rate and did not rest. We went to lunch and a downpour like the ocean falling out of the skies came down. the houses there are made out of palm trees and while it seems like water would get in they are perfectly tied together in a way that makes them resistant. Then another sketchy truck ride back to the city and we got into a taxi to head to the next and last town. This was like the capital of orchids so we first went to some sulfur baths, followed by hot springs, then to an orchid garden where i got to see 20 varieties of orchids naturally blossoming. The girl explained that in the garden they had over 200 varieties and in the department of Tarapoto there are 1500 varieties, she also explained that some only blossom once a year for about 2 weeks but others bloom more frequently but only for one day and at the end of the day the flower falls. This explains so much about my orchid fern that never blossomed again mom. Up the hill, followed the hummingbird garden which had like 20 different types of hummingbirds and we climbed into this three story natural tree house to observe. I wanted to live there favorite flower, favorite bird, sweet house in a garden looking over a city and mountains. At lunch I got to try fried ants, suckerfish soup, peanut soup, and fresh grape juice. Never drink concentrate again. the ants were neither good nor bad I think I did not like that they were fried because they had a sort of burnt thing about them. We headed to an orchid nursery and saw about 30 more varieties, parrots, bright toads, turtles, pythons, and crocs. Then to the botanical garden. As the night came we hung in hammocks conversing until the bats scared off Emma. Then onto the 12 hour bus ride that turned into the 24 hour bus ride because of a land slide that blocked off the highway in like 6 places. We had to wait so that the heavy machinery could basically push all the debris to form a new road. We would roll a few feet and then stop for an hour and a half and repeat. We got the idea would could walk to the closest town 2 hours away to get mobility. but then the bus started moving. then it stopped for another long time, so we got serious again and got our luggage out of storage and then ironically the bus started moving a kept moving. I think maybe the people on the bus thought that God loved the crazy gringas enough not to let them hike two hours on a questionable and filthy highway for two or three hours getting cat called by truck drivers. Gratefully my friend does carry pictures of Jesus in her bag and the virgin under her hat and incessantly prays. So we made it grabbed cow hearts grilled on a stick and got on the next and last bus for 3 more hours getting home at 10 pm. fell into bed and are now back to life again. safe, and sound as we could wish to be a little tired, brused, bitten, and sore, but that is what a great trip should be like.

events

excellent news i did in fact receive my once promised funding so the improved cookstoves will be built. thank goodness. did some trainings for the professors of the schools about nutrition. man there is a serious deficit of knowledge. i am glad i could help out and now they are going to start teaching nutrition and they have started recycling in the primary schools. saving trees. been nice dancing with my crew again we had our first presentation and it went ok. the first dance we did i totally got stage fright and forgot the moves. muh. the second we all kicked butt. and went super well. though getting back into a miniskirt still is not very comfortable for me. working with the moms about diarrea and the cold/flu. speaking of i am rocking a bad cold right now but it has to happen at least once a year right. then we had a girls leadership camp that i think went incredibly well. I taught about health relationships dont laugh yall. A friend told me those who cant do teach. So that should help girls pick better boyfriends or stay single. I also taught about how to go to the university. we had teams and competitions and my yellow team of super stars one it was exciting. they got medals. we acted out a soap opera at night for the girls which i co wrote and produced. hilarious. I also was the host of a dating show. i am thinking perhaps my calling was in television. busy trying to start teaching sex ed again with the help of girls in the school. and still fighting to recover at risk kids from malnourishment. I sent in my third year application so i should know by the end of may whether or not i got the position. on sunday it is the presidential elections here i know little about the canditates but am extremely excited that i will no longer have to see anymore propoganda or hear debates or their terrible promotional songs. i think i have forgotten what life was like here before politics got so big. the new president will be entering office in july. the economy here is getting bad partly because of droughts and partly because of strikes. at least in my site people are struggling, robberies are up out of necessity i assume, and prices are rising. hopefully things get under control some time sooner than later. I am shocked and poorly informed about what is happening in japan though i am rather curious what the domino effects should be in the rest of the world. here people think there should be an earthquake. in other places i have no idea but radioactive ocean sounds like a better name for a band than a reality no? anyways these are the things on my mind. hopefully you all are safe and well and prepared for a potential disaster always better to be prepared than screwed. k loves.

stuff

so got back to site to find out that there may be problems with the funding for my improved cook stoves but i still have no solid word on the project. So i keep doing the trainings with the mothers and they are changing their houses and behaviors and showing up to the meetings so i could not be happier. Then i headed to the mountains of piura to give a training about malnutrition, how to form health promoters, how to run educative sessions, and how to do house visits. It was really great getting to meet the next round of volunteers and to also get the experience of training volunteers. it is so strange to feel like not that long ago we were in their shoes except that a year and a half has already passed by and we have learned so much and changed. it was also entertaining to hang out with one of my best girl friends here because the training was in her site. lets just say that after spending three days with her that we have in general definately lost our minds and will likely be very socially awkward when we get back to the states. Then got back to site and am working on improving people´s bathrooms by building cement platforms still have not decided as to whether I want to do a full latrine project or these platforms are good enough in my opinion. If i do decided to do the latrines I am going to need your guys help with donations totaling in $500 total which is really not all that much and could probably make 30 latrines. Anyways i will let u know if i do or not soon. I joined my dance group last week and will start dancing and performing with them again. I realized after dancing in the 50th anniversary how much i missed and loved dancing. So it is helping my physical health, as for mental health i have been finger painting super relaxing and started doing yoga again. Getting stuff prepared for a girls leadership camp that will be happening next week. all around evrything is pretty calm right now hope all is well with yall.

travels

So i know I said I would be headed to the beach but for budget reasons I was unable to go, which seemed very unlucky. But that same night at 8 pm i got an invite to go with a group of dancers from my site to Ecuador to perform in the Anniversary celebrations of Yantaza. So we got into a car at 11 pm and went driving all night to the border only getting mildly lost once. At the border we had to wait like 6 hours until our transportation arrived so taking advantage of the time we went to a playground to learn the dance we would be performing that same night. We had to borrow electricity from a house in order to have the music play and within an hour we were completely exhausted sweaty smelly and sunburned because the sun is so overwhelmingly strong. Then after lunch and a little loss of hope this sweet mini bus came to our rescue and we were told that there would be 7 more hours to go in order to arrive. So in between consciousness we tried to get the dance organized and memorized and catch up on sleep. However, the windy roads in high altitude got to the majority of us and consequently, there was nausea vomiting headaches dehydration and paleness. We arrived at a gas station and in the bathroom one of the girls told me that she did not feel good and then proceeded to pass out luckily my friend caught her before she hit her head on the corner of the wall. After what seemed like forever and lots of coaxing she sat up like a possessed person confused and scared. I was also scared because I had never seen anyone wake up like that after being passed out, with some pills everyone got into better conditions. At 830 we got to the town and then were told we had to go straight to the local to perform because the event was almost up. Entering we found ourselves surrounded by beautifully dressed groups and a sold out event. Talk about nervous because we were not an actual dance group just members of various groups molded together and barely practiced the dance. The organizer shows up and says you have two songs to get changed and then you are up. Dang we stripped off our clothes and throwing of bobby pins, hats, belts, safety pins, lipstick and earrings. Boom. Listo. So we hear our name and out we go nerves but excited none the less. It went well all things considered. After the relief of completing what we came to do I enjoyed watching the other groups and getting to know the traditional dances of Ecuador which are distinct from the dances I have learned, followed by a musical performance of a 10 man group, amazing. At midnight we finally got to the hotel only to find that there was one shower with one tank of water for the 15 of us. So form the line turn on and off the faucet and limits to two minute showers. None of us could have afforded to go without a shower. 130 sleep finally. Wake up and then a little sight seeing on the way back of Loja which is apparently one of the cleanest towns in the world. The air in the city was cleaner than the air in the country where I live. Nothing of trash in the streets no visible pollution. It also has the largest clock in the world. We saw a river that was so clear you could see to the bottom of it in which ever point of the river. Pristine. Then 6 hours back to the border. Slight problems with border patrol but they did luckily let me back into Peru. Then 6 more hours upon arriving to the entrance of my town the truck got a flat tire so we had to walk the 15 minutes to get home. Exhaustion next day back to work as though nothing happened. Then there was the 50th celebration in Piura where coworkers, socios and volunteers met to present the work we realize. It was refreshing to remember what the organization is about and then hear stories of experiences and successes of all the programs. It truly is an incredible thing what we are doing here. Then pack the bags off again to Lima for the central 50th anniversary event. I met the ambassador and the first lady. Then we did a flash mob dance which was a hit. Afterwards it was nice to go out and dance some more with friends at the clubs. The next day I was off to Cajamarca for Carnival. Did some sight seeing of archeological sites and hiking to waterfalls, bathing in the hot springs, eating delicious food mostly cheese and yogurt. The central day is hours of paint fights running all through the city dancing, singing, and throwing paint and water balloons at one another. Got cleaned up and then headed out to a dance club to check out an electronic dj that was in town. Rare experience here because techno music is not popular so taking advantage stayed out dancing until 5 am. lovely and super fun. Then there was more sight seeing and the big parade which lasted over 3 hours with elaborate costumes more songs and dance. My first carnival of many. And thank goodness for vacations much needed relax and release. Then tuesday its back to the chaos of my life. I am so grateful for the every moment i get to live. hope you all feel the same about your lives if not do something to get where you want to go. Seriously considering staying a third year in a leadership position. will know more in may. loves.

my bad

Ok well I apologize for not writing sooner things have been getting very interesting here. On the note of my site there is still not a lot of rain and consequently no confirmed cases of dengue and thus no worries. I am definately staying in my site thank goodness. March 1st is the actual 50th Anniversary of my organization, I was granted the compliment of being specially invited to attend the event in Lima. My regional director told me that based on my character and in recognition of the work I do I should be the one to represent Piura. Later that same week I received an invite to go to train the new group of volunteers on my style of work because it is considered highly effective. Then, I know can you stand it, I got another phone call saying that a reporter from what would be considered a state wide newspaper would be covering a story on my work along with two other volunteers in Piura. It was a day full of interviews with health promoters, mothers, visiting cook stoves, with a professor, and with my mayor. I was shocked when I received a page and a half of coverage talking mostly about my opinions on why adolescent pregnancy exists and about how I teach sex ed. Which is basically an eigth of my work. I was concerned but my boss says that it was a good representation of the organization even if it is an exaggeration of how much I actually work on the theme and luckily nothing could be considered offensive. My improved cook stoves project is confirmed. A girl from another small town of my site came and presented the idea of doing another cook stoves project. I told her if she got the funding I would support her. It looks like there is a really good chance she will get the funding. That would mean 21 cook stoves for sure and perhaps another 21 if she gets funded (42). crap. That would be wonderful and stressful. We have had a bunch of meetings lately about the Parent School so that the planning and budget and roles and responsibilities are accurate and the project can happen without collapsing or being placed on my shoulders. It is promising, we finished the document today. I have been teaching a college prep course during the summer session which concluded this week with a visit to the Private University of Piura. It was an incredible experience I seriously felt like I was back in the states while I was on campus the quality of their materials, labs, professors, infraestructure, marketing material, and students was mind blowing. It made me want to go back and study. Except for then I thought about how I could not pass the GRE and thus no grad school still in the plans. Though I was looking at Cornell and Tufts just in case because they have a contract with the UN. I have been training more health promoters and counselling non functioning committees of Vaso de Leche. Two friends and I have started a nursery project with the goal that before I leave we will have planted at least 200 trees. So far 21 trees planted. I have been contributing with compost, bags, and had an engineer come to check the quality of our work. I sold all my guinea pigs because I really do not have time for them and the plan all along was to get them into the houses of families. Successful integration of breeding in 4 families. I have been emailing with a college professor from the CSU Nutrition program who says that I may be featured in the Department Newsletter. Talk about freaking publicity. BUT... No fear I am not over working myself I swear. I spend the weekends dancing and hanging out with friends. I am teaching one of my health promoters how to ride a bike and go to the river to swim at least once a week. And on tuesday I should be headed to a beach with the kids from my site to celebrate the end of summer school. That should explain why I have not gotten the chance to write though it is hardly excusable. I am more likely dying from the heat here than anything else. Everything is going I will be going to celebrate Carnival and taking a much needed vacation the first week of March. So if not sooner I will let you know more fun stories. K loves.

crap

So last week i received an email saying that I had two weeks to get out of my site because it is one of the few places in Peru that had hemorrhagic dengue in the past and has a strong history of lots of dengue plus the fact that I already had it once. So I then freaked out, cried, had a small life crisis, sent an angry email, and waited. During the day I received several phone calls all very blurry about where I was going, when, for how long, if I would come back or not to my site. Nerve racking. Then at five oclock I received another phone call saying I could stay. So I am living on the edge so to speak because I do not know whether it is 100% or not that I can stay especially because so many people in other parts of peru are dying of a new form of dengue. dont you love how viruses can mutate to be killers. I do not feel very threatened at the moment because there have been no cases yet of dengue in my site and it is not raining. Should it be a dry season I should be in the clear. If many cases of dengue show up in my site and the rains come I will probably have to evacuate my site at least for some months. It is distracting to try to work knowing that it could all be for nothing and at any moment I could be leaving. I have also decided that I am going to try to be more supportve of my organization and get more involved in the monthly meetings and in feb there is a celebration of the 50th aniversary of Peace corps. As I realized that I could perhaps better and change the service of other volunteers. I am doing a sweet job of recovering malnourished kids and this week have been working to try to better the abliities of professionals here. I am giving a bunch of resources and trainings so that the teachers, municipality, and health professionals can do a better job and produce more prepared mothers, students, and new professionals. I think the fact that I might be leaving is getting me thinking more about how to be sustainable how to get changes to last once I am gone. And really trying to get more professionals to do more work outside of what they are required. I am helping on improving the trash service here so that there is not such a problem with trash in my site. Decreasing the amount of complaints, people throwing trash in inappropriate locations, throwing out dead animals whereever, and burning trash. So far I have formed two committees that will be responsible for the upkeep getting people to pay fines for not doing what they should be. I have my hands dirty everyday. ill keep you updated i might end up in the mountains.

m & E

New years was fun i made a doll representing things that i hate like domestic violence, alcoholism, and male superiority. and we burned it at midnight. if only i was so easy to burn social problems. i hosted a dinner party for my friends and then we went out to a party at my friends house dancing in the street until 4 am. The next day i painted our bathroom bright blue. nice spruce up.So my entirety for the moment is monitoring and evaluation. holding meetings with comittees planning for the year. writing and rewriting projects. visiting families and doing interviews to see what they know now so i can better develop teaching materials and then see in the end whether or not they learned. it is not glamorous or fun but arguably necessary. the recycling project i started in the high school is going to be accepted into the entire community and the municipality is going to use it as a small business. i am still waiting to hear whether or not they are approving the cook stove project but i am 80% sure that they will. the parent school is not going to be my problem this year i am only working as an outside consultant to develop the training for trash management and nutrition if those are themes they elect. I believe that it is a great project but i think that if i get stuck in charge again that it will fail when i leave. i want to get youth health promoters to teach sex ed but i do not know if that is going to happen. i am also trying to work with two of my friends to get a nursery going or growing ha. which would also be a small business for them. i just want there to be more trees in my site. i have two families that accepted guinea pigs into their homes witht he hopes that it will become trendy and more families will want to do it. I trained a guy how to build cement platforms for latrines and am working with getting families to buy their own. another small business for that guy. still working at the health post. I think that my municipality has a lot of hope with this new team they have. there are two younger girls on it and they are really moving and shaking. i started doing yoga and running with a friend. workout buddies are such useful things in a weight loss program. running was not nearly as hard as i had thought it would be and now that i use the breathing techniques i learned in yoga i can run farther without getting tired or feeling like i am going to die from lack of oxygen. i am planting right now because the rain still has not come but maybe soon, cucumber, radishes, and soy. I learned how to make soy milk way better than buying it. my host mom seems to be really supportive of the fact that i do not like meat and has been giving me practically none. so back to organics and veggies yes. oh though i am fearful because the dengue situation here is apparently serious this year and if i get bit i could bleed out. i am covered regularly with repellent. but nerve racking thinking that on little bugger could get the best of me. working out a plan with the doctors so that i can get to a hospital asap before i bleed out. just in case. i think i will be teaching a college prep course in summer school. which has me thinking about next year in my own life and where am i headed or staying or going. time flies and i hope it does not get ahead of me. i keep waiting for the universe to give me a sign. i am reading this book about how to end poverty. it is making me feel like if i really want to change the world i have to work on policy but i do not really have interest in that. hoping my friends do and then i can just influence.