So besides being Alive

Sorry for the abruptness of the previous post but I was running and also I have a really hard time remembering exactly what has happened without my handy dandy planner. It basically runs my future and remembers my past for me. That way I can save those brain cells for something more productive. Held another training for 30 mothers in another sector of my site. It was a great little educational talk about diarrea and then I weighed and checked the height of 30 kids. If they were not scared of me before the little ones sure are now. It was hectic with little kids crying and screaming. It does not help that parents say I am going to vaccinize their kids if they don´t behave. I know when parents have done this because they start crying the second I show up. I also held a educative sesson with about nutrition for a group of 20 women. I am definately getting the work experience necessary for international nutrition. I know that I am more exciting then the majority of meetings held here. Had one of my friends leave unfortunately, she is a teacher and got transferred to a site up in the mountains far away. We went dancing one last time to say goodbye and celebrate the friendship. That is what is sad about my site that people are constantly leaving. I make a friend and then find out for work, education, or family reasons they are moving away for anywhere between 6 months and indefinately. Success and failure run very closely here. I pretty much succeed and fail in something everyday. Which I think has been a great lesson for me and for the people of my community. I think we are all surprised at my resilence and relentlessness. I am surprised because my fear of failure in the past left me paralyzed and now I just brush it off or work at it until it resolves itself. For example, I had a girl ask to use a shovel and she went to town in the community garden. This was a success not only because she is a girly girl that I would have never expected to do this but also because culturally women don´t do that kind of labor. The failure would be that the group of youth working with me are not really keeping up with the project so I am probably going to completely change the project to involve more of the community and instead of making a business make a share crop. In the sense of sustainability it is a failure because if I did not keep working hard to maintain the project everything would die. I´ll let you know what happens. Schools back in session which keeps everyone busy. I am designing a monthly health promotion program in the high school. I have been assisting the dentist in getting a mouth health promotion program started in all the schools here. I started this past week training on my bike. I got this idea that I wanted to travel to a nearby town to buy bananas. So I hopped on and took pictures along the way in total the trip was 17 miles and I did it in an hour and a half. The second trip I headed in the opposite direction for a 22 mile roundtrip in two hours. I am going to keep aumenting the distance in the hopes that someday I can take a trip to a far away place on my bike. Plus this is a great way to exercise, sight see, and take photos. The surprising part is that I did not get tired and the next day my legs did not even hurt. I think that with a road bike I could totally win races when I get back to the states because my current bike is a mountain bike so with a lighter bike made for road travel who knows what I could do or where I could go. I went to a birthday party and danced for four hours followed by a cake fight. Keep in mind that tommorrow is International Women´s Day so celebrate, burn your bras ladies, men put one on, and everyone hug your mom. I liked this quote I recently saw by emerson
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Keep in mind it is better to screw up trying than to be frozen in fear of failure. Also look for new nonesense because expired nonesense just stinks.

Safe and Sound

I would like to communicate that I am totally safe. I have not felt any sort of after effects from the earthquake in Chile. I will write more soon when I have my schedule book to remind me of the stories I want to tell you guys. I have sort of lost track of time and past that is why I write everything down. With lovve and pleasantries

Apologies

Sorry ya´ll that I sort of fell off the face of the world. I am fine and well just busy busy. Also I thought that I posted this last week but it didn´t show up. Once again sorry Clumsy is my new nickname these days. Let´s see... I did have a dance performance I dressed up like I was jane from tarzan and performed a dance from the jungle and also a very pretty cumbia in the white and black outfit located at the right of the screen. I was not even nervous and everyone wonders where I got the skills since I am a white girl. I took the meds they made my legs better and then now they are back to ugly since I finished the meds. I am ok with it since it is not something more serious. Finally finished teaching English today super excited that I will have my mornings free to do other health related work. It was worth it because now all the kids know me and everyone thinks I am a professor too. I was visited by another volunteer that was having trouble in her site. We went to the river, practiced stilts, and she got a taste of my life here. Her opinion very hot, very busy, and extremely unique. So I am still trying to figure out if it is my fault or my site that my life is so strange. Went to a superbowl party with some other volunteers it was funny because I had no idea who was even in the superbowl. Finished with my interviews in the community and am now evaluating the results. I have also held two sessions on the prevention of diarrea and weighed young children to see if they are malnourished. Those that are suffering from malnutrition enter into this nutrition program so that they can recuperate. Last friday was my uncle´s birthday party where we danced a ton and then everyone ate a dish of my guinea pigs. I am working on getting that project rolling. The garden is officially in my name and I have reliable team working now small but effective. I think we are going to start over now that we know what works and what doesn´t. I have been enjoying my own radishes and cucumbers. Still waiting on the carrots, cabbage, beets, squash and tomatoes. Someday I will have sweet vegetarian plates of my own organic vegetables. Also we began selling the products which is super exciting. I will start a business here at least one before I leave. On valentine´s day I went for ceviche followed by dancing in my block party and later another birthday party. I felt anything but lonely on this day. Because here they celebrate it as the love day and the day of friendship. Though I did have a freak accident with balloons when I was trying to help decorate. I blew one up too much and it popped hard into my left eye. It started swelling and thought it might turn black I was covering it with a popsicle and trying to blow up another when it also popped into my other eye and hit my neck. By the end of it I looked like I got beat up by my husband. It was hilarious luckily the swelling went down before any terrible rumors could start. I have been world´s of clumsy lately. Also I experienced my second tremor. The first one woke me up at 3 am and it was small but I though maybe I was dreaming because my bed was shaking. But really the earth was quaking ha. The second one happened this past week and was stronger the whole house shook. I don´t expect there will actually be a earthquake where I live so no worries. It is officially rainy season which I throughly enjoy and had a lovely shower yesterday in the pouring down rain. The people here think I am very strange because I like to play in the rain. I got to travel a bit to another department and visit 2 museums about incas and then head to the beach for a few hours with 40 students from summer school. It made the pains of teaching totally worthwhile to share that experience with my kids. They are really quite pleasant when you are not having to try to keep them under control. It was really sweet to because all the moms were terrified to watch their kids leave to travel alone and I was entrusted with about 20 personally. I took it as a huge compliment. The sun and the sand really got me alive and kicking again. That was a mouthful of a story. I will try to do better next time so it is not so long.

Getting my dance on

Still teaching English. On top I am now spending more time working in the Health Center working with mother´s that have malnourished children. As well as training more health promoters so that we can reach everyone in this large district. I went to the Grupo 5 concert which was as usually amazing. Love that group and apparently they love me too because they were flirting with me, and inviting me to come dance on stage. I had gotten used to being famous in my site but being noticable with one of the most popular groups in Peru. That is an accomplishment it was like every thirteen year olds dream. What can I say boy bands are dreamy. I would have danced on stage but there were too many people from my town at the concert. Instead I just got my dance on close to the stage. It was lovely and perhaps if I cannot find better work I will be the stage dancer for Grupo 5 after my service. I went to the dermatologist to see why my legs have had this ugly rash for 2 months. Apparently, I am allergic to my pants. How do you resolve that issue? Not wear pants but then everyone tells you that you have ugly legs and the cycle begins again. I got some meds hopefully they work. I went dancing with some girl friends in a dance club which was really enjoyable it was inside but with an open roof. Huge dance floor filled completely. There is the crazy hour where no one can leave the dance floor for the full hour. It flies by though and I did it in heels! I have been elected to be the nutritionist for another program aimed at preventing malnutrition aiding mothers with small children. I also tried stilts this week. Surprisingly much easier than I thought it would be. I am going to be ready for the circus by the end of my service. I think I will also learn how to juggle. My dance group is back in action so my nights have been filled with classes we will be performing next week. The garden has a lot of potential and will be getting help from NGO too so here comes the business. There is a lot of local interest in my vegetables so the next harvest will be sold the funds will support youth working there and gain funds to continue the project. It sounds so much easier than it is going to be. But I have faith I have unyielding faith that I am going to do something great here and that all it takes is lots of elbow grease and being a pain in other people´s asses. People ask me why I laugh when I am alone here, and I tell them that the other person who would be laughing at the joke is in the states. In my heart and on my mind, I think about ya´ll all the time!

Beginnings

So I have started teaching English four times a week to children between the ages of 8 and 16. It requires a lot of patience but is rewarding when they learn. I have so much respect for teachers their job is incredibly challenging. It rained once here I of course was out playing in it. I learned that it first rains water and then it rains insects. Literally. The ones that fly forget how to fly or something because they just start falling out of the sky or from my ceiling. Largely right now it is beatles or grasshoppers and every night I learn about another. But the rainy season still has not arrived in full blast. Which is unfortunate because the rain would really help out the garden. And because everyone talks about how all the vegetation turns this beautiful green instead of looking dried out and dead. On the list of new beginnings I have inherited 30 guinea pigs. Here they are called cuyes. I will in the future have a project breeding cuyes either to donate to families of lesser resources so that they can breed them or try to start a business selling them. First I have to get people to want to eat them. They are awkward and make silly noises I am working on naming all of them. So I continue to learn more and more things I also will be learning how to make honey too. I think with my youth group I am going to start a soap making project. Went to the river again rode my bike all the way there. My legs are definately stronger now I just have to do some push ups or something to keep the arm strength. It was nice because it is really hot right now unfortunately I got kind of burned not bad though. As for the laundry update I am improving immensely. Tomorrow there is a concert of Grupo 5 I believe I will be attending with some friends to get my dance on. It is the aniversary of a neighboring community so I may also do a dance performance tonight with my dance group. Sorry I have not eaten anything exciting or exotic lately all I know is the fruit here comes from the trees in houses and parcels you cannot beat the freshness. Sorry for being all over the place the heat is getting to me. With amor.

the day to day

Back to meetings and planning , interviews, hanging out in the garden and exploration of nearby places. I live in the capital of my district which means it is large but nearby are all these little communities called caserios. This week was dedicated to the exploration of these caserios. The first visit failed but was still an enjoyable bike ride with a friend. We stopped on the way home to climb a tree because his legs were tired. I fell out of it the first try but suceeded the second. The next day I walked for 30 minutes to the next nearby caserio and hung out with a group of moms. The update for the garden is plants are growing not all of them some better than others but all around it is a better organized project now thank goodness. Wednesday was another friends birthday. House party we danced and drank until we were merry. Let´s just say that twenty first birthdays are definately different in the states but all end the same with the birthday boy wasted and acting ridiculous. On Saturday I taught a lesson about handwashing in a caserio that was super successful and solified my plans for returning in the future. However, in the afternoon I had my first breakdown about whether the people here value my work let alone me as a person. Consequently, I rode off into the countryside and cried in a corn field underneath two rainbows. It was terribly beautiful and I regreted not having my camera with me. All around it was actually a great relief and got me journaling again. I missed writing, hell I missed sounding educated when I spoke. I tried to translate four sentences into spanish even using a dictionary and could not. I can only hope someday to be profound in spanish. Had a meeting with the boss in the city on Monday. Clarified my role in the community and that I am actually a valuable asset. Glad that is all cleared up. Got to do some shopping in the open air market on of my favorite pass times. Venders of all shapes and sizes with strange products all jumbled together in chaotic order. The taxis drive straight through the crowds of people. My favorite are the fruit stands with pretty colors, free samples, and undeniable freshness. This morning I went to another caserio where I will also be teaching during summer school. My classes start next week I think it will be a great way to get to know more people and solidify myself as some sort of a professional in this place. Then I walked around with some health workers vaccinating dogs for rabies. Random. Still working on my community diagnostic and stalking NGOs looking for potential funders in the future.

Clean Slat

I always am surprised when I reflect on all the great things I accomplished in the previous year and usually laugh when I remember how I spent the previous New Year´s and compare it to my current situation. The experiences vary so much year to year. This year I spent it with a friend´s family. We built a doll which is symbolic of all the bad stuff from the previous year and at midnight you burn it. Also throughout the early evening people write their saludos for their friends and family. More or less roasts which were hilarious and the best part is they play on loud speakers for all the town to hear. Plus there was sparklers and fireworks. A turkey dinner followed by drinking and dancing with the family. I was gifted a handful of lentils for luck. Plus wearing yellow to also bring luck, green for my health, and red for love. There is the twelve grapes too that represent 12 wishes one for every month. Then with some friends we went dancing in town. It was all around very new and different hopefully superstition holds true and I will have worlds of luck, health, and love for 2010. I spent New Year´s Day with the mayor and his wife eating ceviche, drinking clarito and dancing for 5 hours. Pretty much every party goes on until I call mercy and then still goes on for about 5 hours after. I have many hopes for this next year as I am sure everyone does. Today it is back to work and back to normal if that exists. It is slightly sad here as school is out which means many people leave to travel, professors may or may not return the next year, and friends will be leaving for the university. So in some ways progress is coming to a halt on the personal front. Meanwhile on the professional front I am solidifying my plan for work this year. Apparently, the rain is coming which means more heat. This is the first year that I have lost weight during the holiday season with a high probability that I am going to lose more. Still trying to get used to the fact that people stare at me, call me white girl, skinny girl or that I am the most beautiful woman ever. My ego will be destroyed when I return to the states. Trying to get back into the swing of things I will start teaching English fairly soon and I think I will start a walking club since a lot of people are looking for a way to lose weight but do not really want to exercise. The community garden is going mostly well, some things have been stubborn about growing so I think I will add soy to the mix. I even started singing to the plants since I heard that was good for them. Happy New Year may it bring beautiful connections, unexpected joys, and loads of laughter.